















ENCYCLOPEDIA OF 
HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY 





ENCYCLOPEDIA 
OF HOUSEHOLD 
ECONOMY 


By 

Emily Holt 


ILLUSTRATED 



McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. 
NEW YORK 
MCMIII 




THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS. 

Two Copie* Received 


SEP 15 *903 



COPY ft. 


iA 






Copyright, 1903, by 

McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. 


Published, October, 1903 N 



CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I. 

Kitchen Convenience 


PAGE 

I 

II. 

Repairs and Restorations 

• * 

19 

III. 

Concerning Closets 

« i„ 

42 

IV. 

House Cleaning 


63 

V. 

In the Laundry 


8l 

VI. 

Cleaning of China, Glass, and 



Metal 


99 

VII. 

Keeping Things 


116 

VIII. 

Four-Footed Friends 


133 

IX. 

Pets and Poultry . 


168 

X. 

Lawn and Garden . 


191 

XI. 

Greenhouses, Window Gardens, and 



House Plants . 


214 

XII. 

Plumbing and Sanitation 


• 2 33 

XIII. 

The Water-Supply . 


254 

XIV. 

Lighting and Heating . 


269 

XV. 

Sick-Room and Nursing . 


286 

XVI. 

Bleaches, Disinfectants, 

and In- 



SECTICIDES . 


3°9 

XVII. 

Healing Simples 


3 2 5 

XVIII. 

The Family Sewing, Plain 

Sewing . 

343 










LIST OK ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 

PAG* 


A Fresh-Air. Closet. 

“ Have a Wall-Closet Six Inches Deep and a 
Little Broader than the Sink ” . 

Range with Shelf and Cupboards . 

Outdoor Fresh-Air Closet. 

The Linen-Closet. 

Laundry with Set Tubs, Table, and Clothes- 

Horse Screen . 

Stall and Fittings. 

A Strawberry Barrel . 

A Kitchen-Window Garden. 

House-Pipes— How They Run. 

Cesspool, with Ventilating Pipe . 


10 

12 
16 
46 u 

54 


82 


146 


200 


208 


2 34 


246 

1/ 





ENCYCLOPEDIA OF 
HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY 

















Chapter ONE 

lateen Convenience 

K ITCHEN convenience is the key-stone in 
the arch of domestic economy which has 
come in large measure to spell human prog¬ 
ress. If one could but make the nation’s 
kitchens all they should be, there would be 
less need of amendment to its laws. The good red vital 
blood, from which is evolved winning brain and brawn, 
is, in the last analysis, good food. Good food in turn 
depends less on original quality than upon the skill and 
knowledge of the cook. Notwithstanding, skill and 
knowledge alone do not avail—there must be strength 
and proper equipment. Whether the cooking is the work 
of the house-mistress, or the maid, the best ways of doing 
it ought to be religiously followed. 

The Floor 

Like most other things kitchen convenience begins 
best at the beginning. That is tc say, at the floor, which 
is the foundation of a cook’s comfort. The ideal floor 
is of tile. Like the most part of ideals it is beyond 
realization by the majority. Next comes linoleum, whose 
thousand virtues are linked with the single crime of being 
too costly for at least half the kitchen of the common¬ 
wealth. Broad heavy oil-cloth, in tile or mosaic patterns, 
deserves to rank next, for wear, use, and cleanliness. 


2 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Cheap, staring, red-and-white oil-cloth is a delusion and 
a snare, no matter how dark and dingy the room it car¬ 
pets. Chiefest among its manifold sins must be reck¬ 
oned the facts that it shows both wear and dirt quicker 
than any other floor covering. 

A detached, or a cellar kitchen, may be well floored 
with narrow brick, laid edgewise in cement, and rubbed 
smooth on top. Such a floor, well oiled twice a year, 
will not be unwholesomely damp. It is, however, so cold 
one should never stand directly upon it save in the hot¬ 
test weather. A stone-flagged floor is among those 
blunders that are worse than crimes. Luckily it is so 
rare, it may be left out of account. 

Nine kitchens in ten throughout these United States 
have bare board floors. Hence the question: “ What 

sort of boards ? ” Nothing soft and sliver-y; neither 
anything that needs must be painted. The end of a 
kitchen floor is mainly to be scrubbed—and the paint 
proof against soap-suds and elbow-grease has yet to be 
discovered. Consequently a painted floor soon comes to 
look like a very ragged, and extra-chromatic Joseph’s 
coat. 

Narrow boards of heart-pine, well matched, well sea¬ 
soned, free of sap-wood and wind-shakes, well laid, and 
oiled afresh every six months, make a fairish floor—the 
best board floor outside of the hard woods. In the hard 
woods it is a near thing between oak boards and ashen 
ones. Oak lasts a trifle longer; ash is the fresher and 
more sightly. Nothing, indeed, can well be more grate¬ 
ful to the trained housewifely sense than a well-scrubbed 
ashen floor, with all the grain showing upon the polished 
flesh-pink surface—a surface that years of good usage 
only freshen and deepen. 

Neither oak nor ash wears appreciably in less than a 
generation—hence only the first cost needs to be con¬ 
sidered. Ash takes a little smoother surface under the 




0ne ] iutdjen Convenience 3 


plane, and is more manageable in laying—it should be 
driven up so tight that the cracks are practically invisible. 
Oak makes up for occasional roughness by having ever 
so much more spring. It is also cooler to the feet, and 
has the crowning mercy of yielding up grease-spots much 
more readily than ash. Its habit of darkening with age 
is also to be set to its credit. 

Whatever the boards—whether hard or soft, wide or 
narrow, it is crucial to have them lie even. An edge 
standing the sixteenth of an inch above its fellows may 
occasion falls and stumbles innumerable. A creaking 
board, “ a bird in the floor,” as country folk say, is little 
short of a nervous torment. A nail-head projecting ever 
so slightly is a positive danger. So, too, is a splintered 
crack. So most of all is a dry-rotted board, the best trap 
yet devised to catch and breed all sorts of moulds and 
mildews. 

Hence those who needs must put up with hired kitch¬ 
ens may well look to these things: Whether the kitchen 
floor is firmly laid ? Are the cracks in it conspicuous by 
absence ? Does the base-board fit snugly down all round ? 
Are there anywhere cracks, crannies, and crevices, as be¬ 
hind the stove, under the sink, or about the door-jambs, 
in which mice can lurk, vermin harbour, or such small 
deer as thimbles, laundry-wax, bread crusts and crumbs, 
even an occasional potato-paring, can engulf themselves 
past finding. 

It is, of course, the landlord's province to remedy all 
these things. He will promise—it’s usually left the house¬ 
holder to perform. So it is a saving of nervous energy 
to do it one’s self at first hand, even though it be but 
in makeshift fashion. Do not grudge a few nails to 
hold the loose board firm, nor the strip of smoothed quar¬ 
ter-inch stuff that closes the yawning base-board crack, 
neither the putty and plaster which fill irregular crevices 
—putty on the scouring-line, plaster higher up. Putty 



4 


Household Economy [Chapter 


is commonly cheap—three to ten cents a pound. A single 
pound often works wonders, and five pounds of it is an 
outside estimate for the most ramshackle kitchen, which 
may thus be made trimly habitable by the outlay of a 
few cents. Still it can be made even cheaper than bought 
ready mixed. Since it keeps perfectly, requiring only to 
be beaten up afresh with a little oil, it is a handy and valu¬ 
able thing to have about the house. (See Chapter on 
Repairs and Restorations.) 

A thick springy mat, as cocoa-fibre, corn-husk, woven 
rope, in front of the sink, will save much wear of the 
kitchen-floor and the cook’s nervous energy. Standing 
is notoriously among the hardest forms of exercise, ever 
so much more exhausting than walking, or even running. 
All the harder if one stands upon a dead unyielding sur¬ 
face. Since a cook needs must stand more than half the 
time, beyond any other worker, it behooves her to deaden 
the pressure upon feet and spinal column. The elastic 
mat is a help. A greater help is a length of the thickest 
cocoa-matting stretching from the sink to the range, and 
passing the table on the way. It should not be tacked 
down, neither left at loose ends to curl and trip the 
unwary. Have the cut ends clamped fast with strips 
of doubled tin, beaten flat, and riveted through matting 
and all. Thus the matting always lies flat, with no pos¬ 
sibility of dirt accumulating underneath. It may be cut 
in squares, or to rug-length—any way, indeed, if the 
ends are duly tinned. With a roof or back yard avail¬ 
able it can be beaten like other rugs. Upon ironing-days, 
one bit laid upon another under the ironer’s feet will save 
much in power, and, consequently, in time. 

Floors are made to be scrubbed. Notwithstanding, 
the daily, even the weekly, scrubbing, is a fetich that 
should go. With reasonable care fortnightly is often 
enough, and where the family is small, once a month may 
be made to answer. In the matter of grease-spots pre- 





One] 


5 


j&itdjen Convenience 


vention is much easier than cure. When frying is to be 
undertaken, lay newspapers all about the range. Take 
the same precaution upon baking days. Flour is cleanly 
in itself, but the most insidious of all things. It sticks 
in the least crevice, and draws to itself all manner of 
dirt. Lay the newspapers smoothly, two or three ply. 
If they catch much grease it makes them all the better 
tinder for lighting the next range fire. 

Walls and Ceiling 

Since kitchens exist it is plain they must have walls 
—at least outside the happy tropics where the kitchen wall 
is the sky-line. As with floors, cost puts tile out of court, 
also vitrified brick, unless the purse-strings are strong, 
yet easily opened. Wooden surfaces, either in ceiling or 
wainscot, are objectionable, in that they absorb damp¬ 
ness and odours, besides affording harbourage to vermin, 
and lurking-places for dust, visible and invisible. Smooth, 
hard-finished plaster is far and away better. The plaster 
should come down almost flush with a plain, well- 
smoothed base-board, at least a foot wide. Give the wall, 
base-board, and all a yearly coat of light, fresh-coloured 
paint. With new plaster wait a year before painting. 
Otherwise the lime in the mortar will bleach out the 
colour of the paint. 

Many of the patented hard-finishes answer excellently 
for kitchen walls, but are no more durable, nor hygienic, 
than the plain, painted plaster. Such walls and ceilings 
can be washed at need without damage or resulting 
dampness; further, they do not collect dust, nor absorb 
odours. Grease which volatilises in a degree from every 
sort of cooking, and is deposited upon the walls, does not 
penetrate the painted surface. Hence washing removes 
it entirely. Indeed, with a well-painted wall, a minimum 
of care keeps it fresh the year round. 





6 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Windows and Doors 

A high ceiling helps in ventilation if the windows run 
up very near it. When the top of the upper sash is two 
or three feet lower, it is well nigh impossible to rid a 
kitchen of stale smells. The smells rise with the hot-air 
column above the range, and spread and hang in the 
upper air, always twenty to forty degrees warmer than 
the body of the room. When the fire dies down this 
warm air cools, slowly to be sure, but enough to let down 
whiffs of the composite smell, reminiscent of yesterday s 
breakfast, or last night’s dinner. A sash almost flush 
with the ceiling, when lowered acts as a flue to carry off 
such exhalations. Failing such a window the low ceil¬ 
ing is best—then the ordinary kitchen stir, opening and 
shutting of doors, etc., set up a circulation of air strong 
enough to weaken if not to banish the ghostly smells. 

A transom above an inner kitchen-door is a ticklish 
thing. 'If it is open every motion below sends waves 
of hot smell impinging gently upon all the world out¬ 
side. Heated air expands as well as mounts, and owns, 
in an aggravating degree, the universal fluid tendency 
to seek its own level. Bearing this in mind it is easy 
to see why kitchen-doors leading in should be as low as 
architecture permits, and outside kitchen-windows run 
up to the ceiling. With two kitchen-windows it saves 
wall space to turn one cross-wise, leaving a place be¬ 
neath for either a closet or an open dresser, and giving 
more light and air. All kitchen-window sills should be 
high—high enough at least to have a table set beneath. 
Thus is convenient arrangement promoted, and the range 
saved from losing heat through direct draughts upon it. 
Screen all kitchen-windows, if only with cheese-cloth or 
mosquito-netting. Wire-gauze is of course much better. 

Ordinary crown glass, in medium sizes, is best for 
kitchen-windows. Then a broken pane can be cheaply 





one] j&itcfien Convenience 7 


and easily replaced. Both sash and screen-frames should 
be painted white, particularly where there is a poor light. 
If painting is out of the question use the quick-lime white¬ 
wash, which will stick to even planed wood without flak¬ 
ing, if the wood is first washed clean of grease. (See 
Whitewash in Chapter on Repairs and Restorations.) 

Kitchens need careful fitting in the matter of doors. 
Sliding doors warranted to slide would be a boon beyond 
price. Since the average sliding door is built to stick, 
not to slide, it is better left out of the calculation. Doors 
giving upon the rest of the house had better open out¬ 
ward. Thus in shutting they force back kitchen smells 
within their proper domain. Broad cracks betwixt doors 
and casings can be filled with strips of soft wood, bradded 
firmly on, and stained, or painted, to match. Cracks in 
the door itself should be filled with putty, likewise knot 
and nail holes. Loose panels can be plugged tight with 
the same useful substance. Warped moulding should be 
taken off, steamed soft, and fastened in place with brad- 
nails. Unless the hinges hang true, call in the carpenter 
at once. See to it that knobs turn easily, and that bolts 
catch firmly enough to hold at the first shutting. 

There are no trifles—least of all in the kitchen. It is 
only the door firmly shut which will bar kitchen smells 
from the rest of the house, saving time and nervous en- 
ergy—which neither mistress nor maid can afford to 
waste. Therefore, it is well to have outside doors open 
inward, and further to see to it that they have some pro¬ 
tection from the weather. Even a rough hood, with only 
a broadish step below, is much better than going directly 
out upon the ground. A screened porch or covered gal¬ 
lery is better still. This, of course, for householders and 
builders. 

For the flat-dweller there is somewhat of comfort in 
this device. If the kitchen-door opens inward, giving 
directly upon the hall or dining-room, hang washable 



8 


Household Economy [Chapter 


draperies, from a small brass rod, set flush with the outer 
casing, and as close as possible to the wood, but two 
inches above the door. Use denim, art linen, or even 
momie cloth, a length each side. Thus it is easy to pass 
through, and the curtains falling behind make a sort of 
air-shield. They need not be unsightly, and a quarterly 
washing will keep them fresh. 

Controlling Kitchen Odours 

Odours are subtle, withal searching. In dealing with 
them an ounce of prevention is worth at least a ton of 
cure. The heavy smell of stale grease, most clinging and 
most offensive of all, comes more than anything else from 
slopping or sputtering over, which a very little care in 
range management prevents. The acrid smell of burnt 
or scorched things is positively painful—so much so a 
cook’s first lesson ought to be that fire was given for 
cooking, not burning. Leaving unwashed pots and stew- 
pans to dry and simmer on the range is a fruitful source 
of ill-odours, easily remedied. Dissolve two pounds of 
washing soda in a gallon of boiling water, and keep a 
bottle of it handy. As cooking vessels are emptied pour 
in soda water an inch deep, shake it well up around the 
sides, and leave until washing time. If the pots and pans 
keep warm so much the better—the soda will but do its 
work the more perfectly. 

Onions, turnips, and all the cabbage tribe, which smell 
to heaven, may have their scent somewhat abated by a 
little care in the boiling. The odour comes from their 
essential oils, which volatilise. If the vegetables are pre¬ 
pared some hours before they are wanted, and left to soak 
in weak, cold, salt water, rinsed, and put over the fire in 
fresh, cold water, they throw up this essential oil largely 
in the form of scum. Let them come to a boil before put¬ 
ting in the salt, and skim very clean. After the salt is in 



One] 


j&itcf)en Confluence 


9 


add a dash of cold water—it will throw up a second 
scum, which must be removed at once. Cook all such 
vegetables uncovered—a lid strengthens the odour ten¬ 
fold, and makes it more offensive. 

Another preventive is a bread-crust, very hard and 
very stale. Drop it into the water just as it strikes a 
boil, and let it stay ten minutes, then skim it out. Most 
of the oil will come with it—further, the spongy crust will 
have kept it from vaporising. Cauliflower not quite 
fresh always smells tremendously. The best thing for it 
is a scald in weak salt water, boiling hot, before the cold 
soaking. If the heads are big cut them in pieces so as to 
make sure of removing every bit of discoloured curd. 

Even when summer heat puts an open fireplace out of 
commission a quick flare, as of straw, excelsior, light 
shavings, even newspaper, will set up a purifying 
draught, and help to free the kitchen of unpleasant odours. 
Failing an open fireplace the kitchen ought to have a 
range-hood. There are hoods and hoods—at almost any 
price one chooses, from the big burnished copper affair, 
which saves the Waldorf-Astoria from cooking smells at 
a cost of many hundred dollars, to the modest sheet-iron 
contrivance, which is an integral part of so many among 
the newest stoves. There is a movable hood, working 
up and down like the shutter of a roll-top desk, that is, 
in theory, all a hood ought to be—with something to 
spare—but in practice has proved much less satisfactory 
than the stationary ones. 

No mechanical contrivance can wholly make up for 
the lack of care and intelligence in the cook—notwith¬ 
standing, it is a fact, that a hood well set, in a large 
measure, carries away the fumes of food. The manner 
of setting will depend on the size and location of the 
flue. The lower edge ought to be high enough to be quite 
out of the way, yet not so high as to either miss or de¬ 
flect the ascending hot-air column. It may seem at first 



IO 


Household Economy [Chapter 


a costly betterment, for no direct material benefit, but a 
year’s use will show the money to have been well spent. 
Not to name present and every-day comfort, all things 
keep much better in a well-aired house. 

A kitchen with neither hood nor fireplace should at 
least have a trumpet-ventilator. This is only a tin tube 
with a widely flaring mouth, crooked body, and nar¬ 
rowed upper end. It should be set in the wall above the 
range, with the flaring mouth, which curves over and 
upward, against the ceiling. The narrow end goes 
inside the flue, projecting just enough to secure a good 
draught. The efficacy of this device, a make-shift at 
best, depends mainly upon the size and smoothness of the 
flaring mouth, and the tightness of the setting in the flue. 

A Fresh-Air Closet, Sink, Draining-Board 

Take stock of the kitchen intelligently. Consider well 
its possibilities, then set about realising them. With a 
hall or porch handy try to put the ice-box there. Give 
it the best light possible, and as much fresh air. Close 
beside it fix a fresh-air closet—which, save in the most 
torrid weather, keeps cooked food better than the ice¬ 
box itself. It demands only to be out-of-doors, away 
from the sun’s direct rays. Hence it is as much a boon 
to the flat-dweller, with a shady fire-escape or north-look¬ 
ing window, as to the people who have houses all to 
themselves. 

Anybody who can drive a nail can make one, at a cost 
not to exceed a dollar. It is only a framed box, with door 
and sides of wire-gauze, and shelves across inside. It 
is best made fast to the wall at such a height as to be 
safe from prowling cats, and should have further a trusty 
lock. Put away food in it, in clean earthen dishes, never 
in any sort of metal, not even silver; slip each dish into 
a separate cheese-cloth bag, and twist the bag end tight. 







A FRESH-AIR CLOSET 

“it is only a framed box, with door and sides of wire gauze, and shelves across inside” 





















































































































































































































One] 


j&ttrfjen Convenience 


If ants, black or red, discover the closet, paint the wood¬ 
work all outside with camphor once a fortnight. Twice 
a year take down the whole contrivance, and scald it out¬ 
side and in, with boiling soda water. 

The range and sink are commonly fixed facts. Make 
the best of them by a handy location of the kitchen-table. 
But first a word as to sinks. Refuse to live in the house 
with anything less than solid cast-iron. The wood-and- 
zinc abominations, found in many old buildings, breed 
bacteria enough to the square inch to poison a regiment. 
The cast-iron sink with cast-iron back is ugly but can 
be kept clean, and, with reasonable care in the setting, 
will be wholesome. Further, it can be so painted as to 
relieve some part of its ghastliness. But it is not to be 
named along with the porcelain-lined sink, which has a 
tile backing and invites to cleanliness. The porcelain- 
lined affair in turn hides its diminished head before the 
solid porcelain—whose one drawback is its cost. The 
smallest and plainest are $22.00—thence the price mounts 
till it is well in the hundreds. But to any born house¬ 
wife the cost seems a good spending. Certainly such a 
sink conduces more to family comfort than a Brussels 
carpet for the parlour, or even a cabinet organ. 

Any sink—always excepting the wood-and-zinc one— 
is better than none. It should be built in the wall, with 
the plaster coming so snugly around the back that the most 
enterprising and venturesome water-bug can find no place 
to hide. It should stand level upon its legs, but slope 
very slightly toward the drain, and have all the space 
beneath open to light and air. Above the sink-back, fast¬ 
en to the wall a narrowish tray of either wood or metal, 
with a perforated bottom, and nearly as long as the sink 
is broad. In this tray keep hand-soap, scouring soap, a 
nail-brush, a vegetable brush, sponges, etc. In the mid¬ 
dle, and at either end, set a blunt hook for hanging wash¬ 
cloths. They must neither touch the faucets nor drip 




12 


Household Economy [Chapter 


on them. In passing it may be said that a wash-cloth or 
dish-cloth should be kept spotless. When either begins 
to fray burn it at once. 

Well above the tray have a wall-closet six inches deep, 
and a little broader than the sink. Keep in it every sort 
of cleaning stuff—ammonia, soap-powder, dry washing 
soda, pearl-ash, whiting plate-powder, flannel and linen 
rubbing-cloths, chamois, and polishing-leather. Bath- 
brick also, along with lime-water, floor-wax, and furni¬ 
ture-polish. It is well to have the upper shelf divided 
into compartments, each plainly marked with the name 
of the thing it holds. Those in daily use should go upon 
the handy lowest shelf. Doors to such a closet are out 
of the question—in swinging they strike a grown person 
either in the temple, on top of, or beside the head. 
Either leave your closet open—which is not at all desir¬ 
able—or close it with a roller-door, or curtains running 
on draw-strings. 

The curtain should be of any stout washable stuff, 
with a slat at the bottom, and tacked across the top to a 
shade-roller, working in shade fixtures made fast to the 
closet's upper edge. A regular window-shade may be 
used, shortening it, of course, and wiping it off inside 
and out fortnightly. But something opener is much more 
desirable. A curtain of lawn or cheese-cloth, with draw¬ 
strings down each side, is not at all bad. The strings 
should have long ends, working over a rod across the 
top. A single pull at them whisks the curtain up clean 
out of the way. The ends should be joined together and 
passed over a hook in the bottom of the closet, well tow¬ 
ard the back, so as to hold the curtain up. 

Hang a roller-towel of generous proportions close be¬ 
side the sink, and see that the towel proper is changed 
every day. For dish-towels, provide a fingered rack, 
made fast to the casing of the sunniest window. Thus 
the towels get full benefit of light and air, the best of 





“ HAVE A WALL-CLOSET SIX INCHES DEEP AND A LITTLE BROADER THAN THE SINK 


























































































































































One] 


lUtrfjen Convenience >3 


all disinfectants. The cheap fingered racks are commonly 
too fragile, and the stout ones too costly for kitchen use, 
but any carpenter or man handy with tools can make an 
excellent one at the cost of a few cents. All that is needed 
is square inch-stuff, sawed into two-foot lengths, the cor¬ 
ners and one end slightly rounded, with half-inch holes 
bored in the rounded ends, so the fingers may be strung 
upon either a wooden peg, or an iron bolt, between two 
wooden brackets, nailed fast to the window. Such a con¬ 
trivance may have as many arms as one pleases. Five is a 
good number. In use they are spread out fan-wise. Out 
of use they rest peacefully flat against wall or window. 

A draining board is a great help in dishwashing. 
Where it is lacking a big tray with a soft folded cloth, as 
an old table-cloth, laid over it, is an excellent substitute. 
The cloth minimises danger of breakage as well as takes 
up the drainings. It should be wrung out whenever it 
shows itself sopping wet. A right-hand draining board 
is most convenient, but it should never be divorced from 
the kitchen-table or the pantry-window. It saves a world 
of work and miles of walking to have a sliding-panel 
window betwixt kitchen and pantry or dining-room. 
Have the panel big enough to reach the whole arm 
through—with a table underneath it inside, the problem 
of putting things away is mightily simplified. Another 
kitchen problem is where to set the table. No matter what 
the solution, the solver commonly ends by thinking much 
might have been said—and done—on the other side. 
Flat against the wall it permits the hinged bread-board, 
with shelves above for flour and sugar tins, the lard pail, 
the cake and bread-boxes, and in the extra space, a wall 
cupboard, sacred to spices, flavorings, nuts, dried fruit, 
baking soda, cream tartar, baking powder, yeast cakes, 
gelatine, citron, what not. There, too, is the place for 
cake and pie tins, fancy moulds, patty pans, ramekin 
cases, vitrified china baking-dishes, delicate mixing-bowls, 






Household Economy [Chapter 


egg-whips, and custard-spoons. Thus equipped a cook 
can toss up things almost without moving from her 
tracks. Notwithstanding, she is haunted by visions of a 
corner-cupboard possible with the table sitting diagonally 
out. The corner-cupboard means so many convenient 
things—shelf-room above for what one will, zinc-lined 
bins below for sugar, flour, and so on. All these at hand 
by simply turning about, since the table must stand far 
enough out for one to work behind it. Where space is 
plenty the cupboard has unquestionably a shade the best 
of it. One can stir and beat more energetically, hence 
more effectually, if there is no need to have regard of 
the wall. 

Ranges, Shelves, and Closets 

Fifty years back the most part of these United States 
did their cooking and much of their heating with wood. 
The wood-stove, in capable hands, unquestionably turned 
out miraculously good things. Still, eternal vigilance was 
the price of them—it was impossible to count certainly 
upon more than ten minutes of steady and equal heat 
from the best of them. So it is matter for rejoicing 
that the coal-range abounds, the gas-range is cheap, 
plenty, and effectual, and the oil-stove has ceased from 
smelling vilely, and gone regularly into business. As 
to choice betwixt the three, for a medium or large family, 
with laundry work done at home, a coal-range is best 
throughout eight months of the year. Throughout the 
other four it is a refinement of cruelty to keep the kitchen 
and the cook’s temper at simmering heat, with the ther¬ 
mometer playing acrobatic tricks the while. A very lit¬ 
tle money will provide an oil or gas range, either of 
which anybody can learn to manage in half an hour. 
Comfort wholly aside, either will save its cost in fuel 
the first season. Coal once afire must burn on. If it is 




one] Bitten Convenience *s 


dumped the cinders are ill and costly to re-kindle. With 
oil or gas contrariwise, matches are the only kindling, 
and no more need be burned than just suffices for the 
cooking. Moreover, it is unnecessary to heat the whole 
range to make tea or boil eggs and coffee. 

The cost of cooking with oil depends upon the local 
price. In a general way it is safe to reckon that a gallon 
of good oil will keep a blue-flame burner of the highest 
power going at full head for nine hours. With reason¬ 
able thrift, three to four gallons of oil ought to do a 
week’s cooking, besides boiling clothes and ironing a 
moderate wash. Gas is a trifle more convenient, and in 
places cheaper, but everybody cannot burn gas. Oil has 
literally the world for its parish—even the Great Desert 
and the remote Klondike. 

Concretely, the range, whatever its breed or pattern, 
is the most potent factor in kitchen convenience. Some j 
times it lurks in a recessed chimney with a boiler stand : 
ing stark at one side and a wall running up on the other. 
Then the cook has need of patience and commonly de¬ 
serves a martyr’s crown. Oftener it is thrust in high 
relief against the chimney-breast or set a little way off 
the wall, with the pipe running well up toward the ceil¬ 
ing. Either way, it is unlikely the kitchen makers and 
builders saw fit to do more than leave bare wall be¬ 
hind it. Right there opportunity offers, since nowhere 
else is space of so much value. Begin to utilise it with 
a broad shelf all the way across, as high up as one can 
reach. If the pipe interferes have the shelf cut out to 
' accommodate it—of course taking care not to let the 
wood come close enough to be in danger of scorching. 
A shelf fifteen inches wide, well and stoutly braced un¬ 
derneath, will hold the things that need to be kept warm 
and dry—as rice, cereals, beans, starch, bar-soap—it goes 
a third farther for hardening—vinegar, salt, pepper in 
the pod, crackers, bread-crumbs in glass jars, tea, and 




i6 


Household Economy [Chapter 


lump sugar. All but the soap should be in tin or glass 
and plainly marked. Pile the soap-bars cob-house fash¬ 
ion and do not cover them. Hang a light, cheap clock 
from a screw-hook set underneath—thus, at a glance, 
everything can be timed in the cooking. 

Below the big shelf, upon the side next the sink, have 
three narrower shelves, with a roller-door. There keep 
all the light kitchen artillery, sauce-pans, skimmers, 
strainers, flesh-forks, larding-needles, cake-turners. Over 
against these three shelves, upon the other side of the 
range, have a cabinet, cut into spaces for all sorts of con¬ 
diments and flavourings. Label each compartment and 
keep everything in place. The flour-dredge belongs 
there, the salt-shaker, the pepper-casters, tarragon vine¬ 
gar, onion-juice, garlic in clove and in essence, celery-salt, 
fine herbs duly powdered, mushroom, walnut and tomato 
catsup, paprika, tabasco, capers, and gherkins for gar¬ 
nishing, port wine, sherry, claret, and brandy; mustard, 
dry and made, grated horse-radish, and grated cheese. 
In the compartment next the range set a graduated 
measuring glass and three box-wood spoons—salt, tea, 
and dessert sizes. Seasoning over the fire, which is one 
secret of delicate flavours, is easy to a cook thus equipped. 
The cabinet should have a roller-door like the shelves. 
In the bottom of both shelves and cabinet there ought 
to be blunt screw-hooks for hanging holders of all sizes. 
It is a heart-breaking choice betwixt burning a hand 
badly or spoiling some especially dainty dish by five 
seconds over-cooking. 

With a gas-range fit into the space between shelves 
and closet the biggest double match-box obtainable. 
Matches are ever so much cheaper than gas. Jets should 
be extinguished when not needed, though they may have 
to be relighted five minutes after. Good matches, and 
beautifully plenty, are essential to peace and a quiet 
kitchen. So is a holder for burnt matches. Most of the 




» 




RANGE WITH SHELF AND CUPBOARDS 
POT-CLOSET TO LEFT 




















































































































































































































































One] 


i7 


i^ttclien Confluence 


ready-made match-safes are so ridiculously inadequate 
it is well to have the plumber or tin-smith make some¬ 
thing approximating, in metal, the pocket shoe-bags of 
our grandmothers. 

Somewhere on this back wall contrive a space for a 
wire bottle-rack in which to set the bottle of soda-water. 
It is a friend in need and deed, first, last, all the time, 
since it helps so largely to keep the sink clean and un- 
Once a week a whole bottleful ought to be 
poured down the sink-drain after dish-washing is over. 
Chain dish-cloths need a scalding in soda-water at least 
once a month. 

A movable dresser is desirable, but lacking it shelves 
across either a corner, or the recess beside a chimney flue, 
answer excellently. Have the lowermost shelf twice as 
broad as those above, and hang a washable curtain from 
it. This gives a good pot-closet. Fill the open shelves 
with platters, bowls, brasses, indeed whatever ware be¬ 
longs specifically to the kitchen. 

Whatever else it may lack a kitchen should have one 
comfortable chair, and a smallish solid-standing table 
with one or two drawers. Set both as far from the range 
as light and air permit. The table is for cook books, ac¬ 
count books, receipt books, a work box, shears, tape, and 
binding twine. Fasten a small slate to the wall just above 
the table, and hang a bit of pencil to the frame under¬ 
neath. The slate is a kitchen record—for things to be 
bought, things in need of special attention, hours of extra 
serving, time of putting things over the fire—indeed it 
has uses too numerous to specify, and is as much a help 
to the mistress as the maid. 

A chiffonier or clothes-press is handy to have about 
a kitchen, if there is room for it. Have one drawer for 
caps and aprons, another for dish-towels and holders, a 
third consecrated to jelly-bags, pudding-bags, roly-poly 
and tamise cloths. All of these last ought to be soaked in 





i8 Household Economy 


tepid water an hour after using, then well washed, boiled, 
thoroughly dried, and aired for a day before putting 
away. Never use either without scalding it well, then 
swishing rapidly for a minute or two through clean cold 
water. Pudding-bags and the like must in addition be 
well floured. The corners of them must be rounded, the 
seams strongly sewed, bound with white tape, and left 
outside in the boiling. Nets are better than cloths for 
boiling dumplings. Treat them the same as cloths, or 
they will grow musty. 




Chapter TlFO 

Bepatrs anti Restorations 

M AKE haste slowly in the matter of re¬ 
pairs and restorations. It is not meant 
by this to let the work drag, but never to 
undertake it until everything is ready, 
nor to lay a hand to it amid a press of 
other work. Movables in need of repair, as chairs, 
tables, picture-frames, broken china, bric-a-brac, and so 
on, ought to be gathered into a place apart, where they 
can remain undisturbed until their hurts are healed. 

Every household, no matter how small, will be better 
off for possessing this outfit of tools: hammer, tack-ham¬ 
mer, hatchet, hand-saw—fine rather than coarse—screw¬ 
driver, monkey wrench, brace and assorted bits, pliers, 
wire-nippers, gimlets in three sizes, foot-rule, square, 
small plane, small trowel, putty-knife, and two or three 
brad-awls. In addition, it pays to keep always on hand 
wire nails, assorted sizes, screws from half an inch to 
two inches, light bolts and taps, screw eyes, screw hooks 
—these are best of brass—picture hooks, picture wire, 
sand-paper, putty, plaster of Paris, Spanish whiting, 
brad-nails, rivets, a soldering iron, and a pot of glue. 
Ten dollars at the outside, carefully expended, will supply 
everything mentioned. Often the investment may save 
a hundred in course of a single season. Especially if the 
investor lives in the country or the suburbs, where repair 
men are commonly so full of business, it makes them 

19 


Household Economy [Chapter 


high and haughty, withal, disagreeably independent. 
Even in city homes the repair-kit is handy to have about 
the house. To the flat-dweller it is a positive boon, since 
it makes one in large measure independent of autocratic 
janitors, besides saving much in money and worry 
through the proverbial stitch in time. 

Lime, another essential of most repair work, is best 
bought as it is needed. It will air-slack no matter how 
dry it is kept, and quick-lime is ever so much more ef¬ 
fective. Either dry, or in the form of whitewash, it is 
the cheapest, best, and cleanest, thoroughly safe disin¬ 
fectant. Every underground space needs a yearly coat 
of it. An earthen cellar-floor ought to be whitewashed 
the same as the walls, and, when dry, covered with loose 
plank wherever there is need to walk or stand a long 
time. To leave the floor untouched is to invite and har¬ 
bour all manner of taints. Cellar whitewash must be as 
thirsty as possible; thus it helps to keep the cellar air 
clean and sweet. There are as many ways of making 
whitewash as of foretelling the weather. This is the best 
way, if it is to go underground. 

Cellar Whitewash 

Tie a gallon of w T lieat-bran loosely in very thin cheese¬ 
cloth, and boil it for five hours in five gallons of water. 
As the water boils away, add more. Take out the bran, 
squeezing it well, and dissolve in the boiling size two 
ounces of carbolic acid. Stir well, then put in a gill of 
liquid Prussian blue; stir again, then add half a peck 
of unslacked lime. Stir, strain through a coarse sieve, 
and apply hot. It is best to take out a gallon at a time, 
leaving the whitewash-pot where it will keep hot but not 
boil. In applying to wood, move the brush with the grain 
wherever possible. Do not try to whitewash a very 
greasy spot without scouring. The wash will cover it 





21 


two] Repairs anti Restorations 

up, but in a week will begin to flake and crumble. Walls 
previously whitewashed need to be swept very hard with 
a stiff broom so as to remove all loose flakes. Brick¬ 
work or rock will take twice as much whitewash to the 
square yard as wood. It is poor economy to scant or 
skimp, especially at cracks or along seams of rock-wall. 
Have two brushes, one long-handled, one short, with a 
stubby round paint-brush, for use in crannies and tight 
corners. Grease the hands very well before beginning 
to work, and protect them further with gloves of leather 
or rubber, coming as low as the fingers. Whitewash 
from the top downward, and, in working upon the ceil¬ 
ing, keep well back of the brush, on pain of getting a 
splash of whitewash in the eye. 

Out-Door Whitewash 

This is excellent for fences, walls, out-buildings, sheds, 
trellises, rough porches, or orchard tree-trunks in need 
of protection from vermin. Break up a pound of clean 
glue in an earthen jar, cover it well with cold water, and 
set the jar in a vessel of boiling water. Keep the water- 
bath simmering until the glue is all dissolved—it should 
be clear, and rope slightly. Next morning heat it well, 
then stir it through six gallons of hot water. Add a 
pint of salt, and when it is thoroughly dissolved pour 
the liquid, boiling hot, upon one peck of unslacked lime 
in a clean wooden vessel. Stir hard for ten minutes. 
Add a little Prussian blue if wanted a clear white. Two 
ounces of chrome-yellow rubbed smooth in a cup of the 
wash, then well mixed with the mass, will give a lively 
cream-colour. Lamp-black sifted in makes gray, dark, or 
light according to quantity, and Spanish brown gives a 
dull pink, but requires to be carefully mixed, or it will 
stay in lumps, and give a spotty colour. This whitewash 
will stick either hot or cold, and keeps well for some time. 





22 


Household Economy [Chapter 


It is much better to put it on on a clear, warm day than one 
either cloudy or damp. Once the glue dries and takes 
firm hold it is not easy to get it off, but, unless it dries 
quickly, it will neither look nor last its best. 


Milk Whitewash, or Quick-Lime 

Whitewash 

This is a good substitute for white paint inside the 
house, since it sticks to wood, planed or rough, and rubs 
off very little. Powder and sift quick-lime without 
slacking, stir a quart of it well into a gallon of sweet 
milk. It ought to be a little thicker than cream. If too 
thick, add more milk; if too thin, more lime. After mix¬ 
ing thoroughly, add a teacupful of turpentine, stirring 
hard as it goes in. Apply with a paint-brush. This is 
excellent for ceilings, upper walls, the inside of kitchen 
closets, pantries, dairies, and so on. It can be tinted like 
the out-door whitewash, but is of so soft and clear a 
white it is more agreeable without colouring. 

Prepared kalsomine cakes are so cheap, and so easily 
bought, it seems hardly worth while to say that the dis¬ 
solved glue, with the addition of Spanish whiting—sifted, 
of course—and an earth-colour in powder, makes a kal¬ 
somine finish for walls. Apply with a paint-brush, and 
give at least two coats. Three will be better. For the 
first, thin the liquid kalsomine one-half with water just 
below boiling heat. Let this coat dry, then put on a coat 
of thick wash, but without colouring. Colour the last 
coat, and thin it a very little. It is best to try a brushful 
upon a shingle or waste-wall before finishing, as the col¬ 
our lightens so in drying it is otherwise impossible to 
judge accurately the depth of the shade. 

Step-ladders are kittle-kattle when it comes to work¬ 
ing with a ceiling or upper walls. Given space to store 




two] Repairs anti Restorations 


2 3 


them, it pays to have a pair of light trestles, a little more 
than waist-high, and three long boards, a foot wide each, 
to lay from one trestle to the other. This makes a safe 
and handy scaffold. In default of it one may make shift 
with two light barrels, set on end, with a stout ironing- 
board laid between. By looking before stepping one can 
use the make-shift scaffold with no risk at all. Whiten 
a ceiling in strips the long way of the room, moving the 
brush up and down in straight strokes, and taking care 
not to leave a rough place where the new stroke joins 
the one previously made. This is relatively easy with a 
scaffold, but almost impossible upon the confined footing 
of a step-ladder. 

Painting Walls and Floors 

With a can of good ready-mixed paint, painting walls 
and floors is no job at all. Paper-hanging is a little 
harder, but by no means beyond the strength or skill of 
an average woman. Putting up textile hangings, as bur¬ 
laps, denim, cretonne, requires only a little knowledge, 
and something of knack. But, first, the walls themselves 
must be made sound and trig. Except for a painted wall, 
plaster is a better stop-gap than putty. Paper does not 
stick well to putty, and the oil in it comes through any 
sort of cloth. Sift plaster a pint at a time into a clean 
bowl, mix it with cold water to a very soft dough; fill 
all the broken spots in the wall with this dough, and 
smooth each as filled with either a small trowel or a 
broad-bladed knife dipped in cold water between strokes 
to keep it from sticking. Work quickly, so the plaster 
may not set until it is in place. By mixing it thus in 
small quantity it can be used up clean. With big breaks 
it is best to mix fine sand and quick-lime in equal quan¬ 
tity, through the plaster, wet with hot water, apply to 
the wall in handfuls, and smooth before it sets by laying 




24 


Household Economy [Chapter 


on a bit of board, and hammering the board lightly until 
the mortar is flat with the rest of the wall. Before paint¬ 
ing the mended spot let it dry a day or two, then brush 
it well over with strong vinegar, to neutralise the quick¬ 
lime and save the paint from discolouration. 

Always cover a floor with paper, old cloths, boards, 
even straw, before beginning to work at painting or 
whitewashing. It is a trouble that saves very much 
worse trouble. In using paint ready mixed, always shake 
the can well before pouring out any. The colour settles 
by standing. Unless it is thus shaken up the bottom of 
a can will be three to four shades darker than the top. 
Thin paint, too thick to spread well, with turpentine and 
linseed oil. Boiled oil is best—two-thirds oil to one- 
third turpentine is a fairly good proportion for indoor 
work. Stir the paint-bucket hard before putting a brush 
in it, and try a stroke or two on a board to make sure 
it is right for the wall. A blotch in the beginning is a 
hard thing to paint out; besides, it confuses the eye. 
Upon new walls the priming coat should be very thin, 
barely enough paint to colour the oil. If it needs to dry 
quickly put in a good deal of turpentine, and leave doors 
and windows open day and night. Apply the second 
coat of full thickness, and do not try to dry it out with 
turpentine. Time alone gives paint a dependable surface. 
In repainting, wash the wall well with soda and pearl-ash, 
and let it get thoroughly dry. Otherwise the grime and 
grease will streak the new paint, or, if very thick, show 
through it and make it flake. 

A regular coat of paint, especially one grained and 
varnished, can only be burned off; hence, no amateur 
ought to undertake it. But stained and varnished wood, 
or even varnished paint, much defaced, can be recoloured 
unprofessionally, though it is troublesome work. The 
surface must first be washed in turpentine to soften the 
varnish; then, after an hour, in alcohol, to remove the 







Two] Repairs anti Restorations *s 


bulk of it. Then comes a washing in strong pearl-ash, 
rinsing, drying, and sandpapering. All this will leave 
a surface mottled and not coloured, but readily receptive. 
Notwithstanding, it is hardly safe to try making it a new 
colour more delicate than the old. 

Reliable Stains for Wood 

Prepared stains are cheap and convenient; the trouble 
with them is they are seldom mixed in oil. Thus the 
colour is washy, and fades, instead of deepening with 
age. Hence it seems worth while to give the following 
receipts for stains, all of which may be used on any wood, 
unpainted, or brought to a taking surface, but all of 
which likewise give the best results upon pine and white 
wood clear of knots. 

Cherry Stain : Half-gallon raw linseed-oil, half-gal¬ 
lon spirits turpentine, mix well with one ounce Indian 
red, try a little on the wood to be stained, and if too pale 
put in more colour. Keep trying until the right tone is 
found; some wood takes colour much easier than other 
sorts. The stain must be a true stain, thin enough to let 
the natural wood-grain show through. Give one or two 
coats according to the depth required, and finish by rub¬ 
bing lightly with sandpaper, then giving a single coat of 
colourless shellac varnish. 

Mahogany Stain : Mix as for cherry stain, using a 
little less Indian red, and adding as much burnt sienna. 
Put in both colours sparingly, trying the stain between 
times, until sure of the shade wanted. The more sienna, 
the duller and softer will be the tone. If too deep, add 
more turpentine and oil. Fresh wood will take up from 
half to two-thirds more stain than that which has been 
painted or oiled. With very porous wood, or where the 
grain is rough, it is worth while to use a filler, and rub 
down with sandpaper before applying the stain. 



26 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Oak and Walnut Stain : Raw umber mixed with 
the oil and turpentine gives oak colour; burnt umber, wal¬ 
nut. Antique oak-finish comes from rubbing over with 
a mixture of one part raw linseed-oil, two parts turpen¬ 
tine, a little burnt sienna, and just enough lamp-black to 
colour well. This is best put on with a sponge or woollen 
rag, and rubbed in and off, as applied. It must be thin ' 
enough not to show black except in the grain-lines—the 
hard ridges ought not to take it up. Since it is very hard 
to achieve this result on soft wood, antique oak is not 
commendable save for genuine oak-wood. 

Filler for White Woods : Mix through half a gallon 
of the oil and turpentine, half a pint of sifted cornstarch, 
and half a pint of sifted whiting. Stir well, and apply 
all over the wood. Let it dry before putting on the stain. 
For dark wood mix well through the filler a tablespoon¬ 
ful of burnt umber or burnt sienna. Wood or anything 
to be treated with stain or filler must first be made abso¬ 
lutely clean. 

Restoring Wood, Wicker, Etc. 

If wicker furniture has been varnished it will not take 
enamel without removing the varnish. Pour boiling 
water,, with a little washing-soda in it, over and through 
the wicker-work for at least ten minutes; let it dry, go 
over it with a flannel wet in either turpentine or naphtha. 
Leave in the air, and next day rub down with sandpaper. 
Wicker, rush, and bamboo things are better dyed than 
painted. A good black dye is made by dissolving half 
a pound of logwood extract in three gallons of water, 
and, after .it boils well, adding four ounces of blue vitriol 
dissolved in a quart of water. Boil ten minutes longer, 
skim well, and apply boiling hot with a very thick soft 
brush. If possible, hold the thing to be stained over the 
boiling dye-pot while the staining goes on. If the first 






two] Repairs anti Restorations 


27 


coat is not deep enough, boil down the dye one half, and 
give a second coat. Let dry two days, then scrub well 
with a stiff brush and strong tepid soap-suds. This 
ought to prevent smut. After drying, the black can be 
varnished, oiled, or treated with wax, or with furniture- 
polish. 

Unpainted wood or raw wicker can be dyed almost any 
colour with good domestic dyes. Red is particularly ef¬ 
fective. Wet the surface to be dyed with clear hot water 
before dyeing. The wetting makes it take colour evenly. 
For white enamel a clean dry surface is requisite. Use 
pure white lead, the best-boiled linseed-oil, and white var¬ 
nish. Put just enough lead to colour the oil in the prim¬ 
ing coat. Let it dry three days; then at like intervals 
give three coats of white lead, mixed very smooth, and 
each a little thicker than the last. The finishing coat 
should be thicker than rich cream, and put on very 
smooth. Give two coats of the white varnish, rub down 
with sandpaper, and finish with oil applied with a silk 
swab, and rubbed to a high polish. Beware of dust. 
Unless the work is covered while the coats are drying, it 
is likely to come out more gray than white. 

Sun-faded spots in stained wood, as a floor or window¬ 
casing, can be restored thus: Cover the spot with a folded 
cloth wet in benzine or turpentine, let it lie an hour, then 
rub over with alcohol, and wash with strong soda-water 
about blood-warm. This takes off the old varnish. 
Stain afresh, taking care that the new colour goes out 
quite to the old; let dry, revarnish, and polish. 


How to Make and Use Putty 

Fill all shrunken seams in wood, or cracks, or crannies, 
or crevices with putty before beginning to paint or stain. 
Old putty, kept over from former repairings, may be 
softened by beating it gently, and dropping in oil as it 
is beaten. 




28 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Notwithstanding it often pays better to mix it fresh, 
it is never quite so manageable after reworking. The 
mixing is very simple. Sift two pounds of whiting into 
an earthen bowl, make a hole in the middle, and pour in 
gradually, stirring and pounding all the time, enough raw 
linseed-oil to make it the proper consistency. This is 
another point in favour of home-mixing—it can be stiff, 
or soft, at need. 

For deep and wide floor-cracks it ought to be as stiff 
as biscuit-dough. Do not try to fill a crack that can be 
seen through without first putting in a sliver of wood thin 
enough to come half way to the top. Nail the sliver 
every foot or so with the smallest-size brads, set diag¬ 
onally first one side, then the other. Then cram the crack 
full of putty and smooth off the top, but take care in the 
smoothing not to smear the wood either side, nor to leave 
the putty higher than the floor. Without the wood at 
bottom, walking breaks the putty almost as soon as it 
hardens, and grinds it through, thus leaving the crack’s 
last estate worse than the first. An open crack too nar¬ 
row to get in a sliver ought to have the fine brads driven 
in each side and left with the heads standing out, crossing 
each other a little below the floor-level, before the putty 
is put in. It will harden all round them, and, even 
though it may break, stay in place a long time. 

With putty much depends on knowing how to handle 
it. For filling longitudinal spaces—as seams, cracks, 
split places, shrunken panels—take a ball of putty the size 
of an egg, and roll it between the palms until it forms a 
long worm-shape. Make the worm as near as possible 
the same size all the way, and of a thickness proportion¬ 
ate to the space it must fill. Press it firmly in place; then 
with a blunt, broad-bladed knife run over it hard, level 
it, and smooth it, scraping off the surplus. 

For filling nail-holes, or knot-holes, make a thickish 
worm, lay it flat upon a smooth board, and cut it into 





Tw °] Repairs anti Restorations 


2 9 


bits. Press a bit into each hole, and smooth off with the 
knife. Be careful, always, not to smear; also to leave 
the surface level. With very soft putty it may be left a 
little higher than the wood, as it will shrink a bit in 
hardening. With many smallish cracks to fill it, it pays 
to use a putty-tube. Make it of either stout tin-foil, or 
oiled paper. Double a square to form a cornucopia, 
fasten it firmly; then half fill with soft putty, snip off the 
pointed end very slightly, and squeeze the putty through 
it. If the stream is too small, snip a little more, but be¬ 
ware of getting it too big. With care a tube can be re¬ 
filled many times. Begin at the end of a seam, and 
squeeze the putty into it, moving slowly, and keeping the 
worm even. If the seam is irregular, thicken the worm 
in the big places by moving the tube more slowly, squeez¬ 
ing a little harder the while. 

With window-glass of the proper size, filling a broken 
pane is a small matter. First break out the old pane’s 
remnants, working the bits from underneath the putty. 
Then a few taps with the hammer-head will break the 
putty so it can be easily removed. Scrape the sash-edges 
clean, and, if possible, take out the sash and lay it flat, 
putty side upward. Fit in the new pane, and drive 
a very small tack in the middle of each side, with the 
head projecting so as to hold the glass firm. Then put 
in glaziers’ points all round—that is small, sharp tri¬ 
angles of tin—with the points pressed into the sash, and 
the sides flat against the glass. Lacking the points, put 
in two more tacks on each of the four sides. Drive them 
in far enough for the putty to cover the heads. Lay a 
roll of putty along one side, smooth and shape it with 
the knife, and be sure to leave it no wider than the shoul¬ 
der of the sash ; also not to blur the glass. Finish one 
side before touching putty to another. The second day 
after putting in, paint the putty well with white lead, 
rather thinly mixed in oil. Putty is at first wholly im- 



3 ° 


Household Economy [Chapter 


pervious to water, but, left unpainted, weathers in a few 
months, and begins crumbling away. 

In closets and pantries it is a very present help against 
the inroads of crawling things. Wherefore it is well 
worth while to cram and crowd every crevice with it. 
Then, if the putty itself cracks, put in more. It sticketh 
closer than a friend or brother, and is more subtle than 
even a cockroach or a water-bug. In the bath-room it 
works wonders, and is safe to use as it does not absorb 
moisture, neither odours, save in a very slight degree. 



Paper will not stick either to a painted wall or to one 
finished white or whitewashed. Or, rather, it will not 
stick serviceably unless the wall is properly prepared. 
Painted walls must be washed clean and well sized. 

Whitewashed walls need to be dry-scrubbed with a very 
stiff brush, then washed in very strong alum-water, or 
else strong vinegar, and after drying three days, to get a 
vigorous sand-swabbing. The sand-swab is a pint of 
sand tied up in stout double burlaps. If the swabbing 
leaves the surface still lime-dusty, go over the wall again 
with vinegar or alum-water almost boiling hot. Apply 
it with a thick paint-brush, and be sure no space escapes 
wetting. Unless the lime is thus neutralised with acid 
it will make the paper crack, and pop off the wall. Hard 
white finish is nearly as bad as whitewash. It is unsafe 
to paper either, even after washing and scraping, with¬ 
out first putting on one or two coats of size. Make the 
wall-size of wheat-bran or glue, as directed for white¬ 
wash. If of glue, thin it one half with vinegar, and put 
on boiling hot. 

It saves much work to have wall-paper trimmed in the 
shop where it is bought. Dealers commonly do it with¬ 
out charge. Have the left-hand selvage cut. With a 





Two] Repairs ant Restorations 31 


figured paper, begin either at the top of the wall or the 
picture-moulding, and measure to the base-board, but, 
before cutting a length, look at the figure. If by cutting 
an exact length the pattern comes off so as to match the 
upper end, well and good. If it does not so match, raise 
the first length until the bottom line cuts a pattern-figure 
exactly in half. Thus, by wasting six inches in the be¬ 
ginning, it is possible to save a roll or two if the room 
is large. Cut a dozen or twenty lengths matching the 
figure accurately to the first, and taking great care that 
the pattern shall run straight across the wall. Nothing 
looks much worse than a papered wall with the design 
running askew, six inches higher at one end of it than 
the other, although the ascent may be so slight every 
figure appears to match. 

The safeguard against that, after accurate cutting, is 
to start square. Corners are rarely true, and door and 
window-casing are often out of plumb, especially in old 
houses, or new ones still settling. Before beginning to 
hang the paper, strike a plumb-line with chalk from top 
to bottom. That is to say—hang a compact weight by 
a cord, dipped in powdered chalk, flat against the wall, 
with the upper end of the cord at the ceiling and the 
weight resting against the base-board. Hold both ends 
fast, then draw the taut cord out smartly, and let it strike 
the wall. It will leave a mark entirely true. Set the 
first length by this mark; then, if the ends are level, the 
figure must run right. 

Lay the cut lengths one on another, wrong side up, 
upon a scaffold a little wider than themselves—here again 
the boards and trestles come in excellently. Cover the 
top length with paste throughout, then fold it back upon 
itself, accurately in half, lay it off, paste and double the 
next. Do not paste more than half a dozen at once— 
the paste dries; besides, the paper gets tender. Set a 
step-ladder in front of the plumb-line, and stand on it to 



3 2 


Household Economy [Chapter 


put on the paper. Take a folded length, with the upper 
end between the thumbs and fingers of each hand, having 
first separated the ends for perhaps six inches. Apply 
the upper end firmly to the wall, keeping the trimmed 
edge true with the mark. Spread it smooth, then deftly 
unfold the length all the way down, press the upper half 
of it firmly in place, then step down and affix the lower 
half. Now with a soft cloth in each hand go over the 
whole length, pressing outward from the middle to the 
sides, so as to remove all blisters. If an obstinate one 
remains near the middle, prick it with a coarse needle, 
and pack the wet paper down hard all round the puncture. 
Be specially careful not to smooth blisters into wrinkles. 
Wrinkles look ill in themselves, but do worse harm by 
drawing edges out of plumb. 

With a frieze and dado, the paper lengths are handily 
short. Cut the frieze in lengths of about four feet, make 
them very pasty, and be sure to match the figure per¬ 
fectly, if figure there is. If the cove adjoining the ceil¬ 
ing is to have a separate paper, cut it exactly the right 
depth before paste touches it. At notched door or win¬ 
dow-casings let the wet paper lap far enough to break 
out the projections. It may seem a waste of paper, but 
paper is cheap in comparison with strength and trouble. 

Papering a ceiling is not a nice job even when the ceil¬ 
ing is low. Still, it can be done if one is willing to take 
pains. Cut the lengths to fit, also to run the shortest way 
of the room; do not fold them after pasting, but raise 
them single upon the hands, stick them first near the mid¬ 
dle, and work them on toward the ends. If the frieze- 
paper meets the ceiling, put on the ceiling first, and let 
the ends lap down upon the wall far enough for the frieze- 
lengths to take hold on them. 

It is never safe to paper a ceiling over an old paper. 
The two will crack, curl, and sag after a little while. In¬ 
deed, it pays to take off old paper even from walls, al- 




two] Repairs anti Restorations 


33 


though it is a tedious job, withal troublesome. If the 
room is to be repainted, and can be emptied of everything, 
a good way is to spray the walls and ceiling freely with 
hot water from a garden atomiser, then close windows 
and doors tight, and set an open vessel of water over 
a lighted oil-stove in the middle of the floor. After sev¬ 
eral hours the steam will have so softened and loosened 
the paper, it will come off in big sheets. But where the 
steaming is out of the question, one must rely upon 
sprinkling with the atomiser, and scraping. A light, 
sharp steel garden-hoe is about the best scraper. In 
scraping a ceiling it is well to wear big glasses, as a fleck 
of the wet paper, striking full in the eye, may prove a 
serious matter. 

Paper Paste 

Paste is best made fresh every day or two. Put on a 
gallon of water in a two-gallon open kettle, add a heaping 
tablespoonful of salt, and set it to boil. Mix two heap¬ 
ing teaspoonfuls of flour gradually, with enough cold 
water to make it a little thicker than cream. When the 
water boils, pour in the flour, stirring hard all the time 
so there shall be no lumps. Drop in a lump of tallow as 
big as a walnut, cook for five minutes, then add an ounce 
of alum dissolved in a cup of boiling water. Properly 
made, this needs no straining. If there are lumps, strain 
it before using. Apply to the paper with a flat broad 
brush, soft and thick. If the paste must be kept over a 
day or two in hot weather, a few drops of oil of cloves 
will keep it from souring. 

To Clean Papered Walls 

A mop of cheese-cloth strips, an inch and a half wide 
and eight inches long, made fast to a light handle is the 
best thing for keeping a papered wall clean. Brush the 




34 


Household Economy [Chapter 


paper well with it twice a month. Every spring and fall 
mix cornstarch, whiting, and powdered Fuller’s earth in 
equal parts, dip the mop into the powder, and rub walls 
and ceiling well with it. Then shake all powder from 
the mop, cover it with a damp flannel, and go all over 
the wall again, wiping in long straight strokes. The 
flannel must be only damp. Wet, it is apt to leave marks. 
As soon as it is dirty, change it for a fresh one. 

Thick crust-slices from a very stale loaf will also clean 
wall-paper. Begin at the top and rub downward with 
long, steady strokes. It is a good way to cut a square 
loaf in two, lengthwise, rub with it till the cut surface is 
soiled, then slice the dirt off. Fuller’s earth mixed to a 
thin paste with ammonia, and let dry over grease-spots, 
will usually remove them. Brush off the dry paste with 
a clean stiff brush. For very delicate paper, fold pow¬ 
dered French chalk flat inside a thickness of gauze, lay 
the chalk-pad against the grease-spot, and press well with 
a blazing-hot iron. Properly managed, there will be no 
mark left. But where there is a big spot, the best way 
is to cut the paper square around it, wet, and scrape off; 
then put on a new piece, matching the wall-pattern ac¬ 
curately. There should be an extra roll saved over from 
every room for just such work. 

Spots in Wood and Metal 

Faded spots in hard wood, from heat, light or the touch 
of too strong alkalies, can be brought back to their orig¬ 
inal colour by repeated gentle rubbings with boiled lin- 
seed-oil, mixed with one-eighth of alcohol. Rub two or 
three times each day, using a clean silk or linen swab each 
time. Old linen and flannel ought to be kept for such 
uses, as well as old silk, which also makes the best of 
all polishing cloths. Make swabs by rolling fine cotton¬ 
batting into tight small balls, and tying a ball in a square 



two] Repairs anti Restorations 


35 


of cloth. The loose cloth-ends form a handle. Throw 
away swabs as soon as they get hard or dirty. 

For polishing marble, stone, and metal dry, use a lead 
swab. To make it, cut a circle of stout unbleached mus¬ 
lin eight inches across, and gather it around the edges 
with strong thread. Pour into it a pound of the heaviest 
duck-shot, draw, and sew the gathers firmly. Tie the 
shot-bag inside a leather square to rub with it. The 
leather can be used on both sides before it will need wash¬ 
ing. The shot-bag lasts indefinitely. 

Dents, spots, and scratches upon cabinet wood tor¬ 
ment the housewifely conscience. To remove a dent, 
cover it with four thicknesses of wet paper, and set a 
blazing hot-iron on the paper for a minute. The steam 
will raise the compressed wood-layers, though it may play 
hob with the varnish. Repeat the steaming until there 
is an even surface. Then sandpaper the place, rub off 
well with alcohol or naphtha, and revarnish. For a 
rubbed place, sandpaper it smooth, then swab lightly with 
paraffin oil, and afterward with a little dry colour, the 
same as recommended to make that particular wood-stain. 
Put on the merest suspicion of the colour at first, use a 
clean swab, and repeat the oil-rubbing in between until 
the right shade is produced. Finish with a coat of shellac 
varnish, very lightly rubbed until dry. 

A scratch that goes no deeper than the varnish may 
be helped always, and healed sometimes by holding a red- 
hot poker an inch above it for the space of half a minute, 
and rubbing well, as soon as it cools, with a mixture of 
alcohol, olive-oil, and pure cider-vinegar in equal quan¬ 
tities. This makes a cheap and most excellent furniture- 
polish. It must be shaken well before using, rubbed in 
with a woollen cloth, and polished with another. Per¬ 
sistent rubbing with it will efface the white marks left by 
hot things or wet things upon varnished wood. Where 
the mixture is used as a polish pure and simple, the thing 







3 ^ 


Household Economy [Chapter 


to be polished should first be well cleaned either with 
turpentine, naphtha, or warm soap - suds. Wood 
scratched deeper than the varnish should not be washed 
with the suds, as the water soaks into the scratches and 
makes an ugly permanent stain. 

Mahogany, especially old mahogany, has a trick of get¬ 
ting filmy no matter how well cared for. To remove the 
film, wash it every three months with weak tepid suds, 
then polish with this polish, which is French, and war¬ 
ranted to give fine wood an incomparable lustre. 

French Polish for Hard Woods : Ten parts pale 
rosin, eighty parts benzine, five parts palm-oil, one-half 
part essence verbena, one-and-one-half parts essence pep¬ 
permint. Keep hermetically sealed away from fire and 
light. Shake well before using. Apply with a silk rag, 
and polish after with a dry silk cloth. 

The Care of Mirrors 

Remove fly-specks and dirt from mirror surfaces with 
whiting mixed to a cream in alcohol. To clean a gilt 
mirror-frame, brush off every particle of loose dust, then 
wet it a little space at a time with alcohol applied with a 
camel’s-hair brush. Rub off the alcohol before it dries 
with clean, soft silk cloths or fine flannel. The dirt 
should come with it—hence change the cloth often. If 
there are breaks or rubbed places in an ornamental frame, 
fill up with plaster, wet very soft with white of egg, shape 
quickly, let set, then smooth over with plaster newly wet 
to a cream in tepid water. When the outer coat is full 
dry, gild either by pressing on gold-leaf or painting with 
gold paint. Only the finest frames are worth genuine 
gold-leaf. The same treatment, of course, applies to 
picture-frames. Pictures themselves are best cleaned by 
a very quick wiping over with a cloth wet in alcohol, and 
afterward another quick wash with weak white soap-suds. 





Two] Repairs anti Restorations 


37 


They must be patted, not rubbed dry, with very soft 
towels. Nothing powerful enough, either chemically or 
mechanically, to attack varnish and colours ought ever 
to touch a canvas. 

If a mirror is badly blurred, resilvering is the only gen¬ 
uine cure. Partial blurring may be mitigated in several 
ways, and scratches made almost invisible. Take out the 
wooden back, wipe off the silvered side quickly and care¬ 
fully with a cloth wrung out of warm water. Be sure 
to wring it dry, and follow it with a patting from a soft 
hot towel. 

If there are scratches, paint them over with the very 
best silver paint, cover, and leave to dry. Or the scratch 
may be backed with a square of silver, or tin-foil, with 
a drop of white glue at each corner to hold it in place. 
With blurs, mark them out so as to give a clean outline, 
wet the blurred silver with alcohol, and after a little 
scrape it off. Then either paint the clear spot or back it 
with foil. The foil must be something bigger—big 
enough to be glued to sound silvering, as the glue will 
show through the glass. Lacking both paint and foil, a 
mirror may be bettered by simply laying gray-dark cloth 
behind the defects. If it hangs away from the light, 
black cloth is better than gray. 

Repairing Upholstery 

Upholstery demands more knack than strength. In re¬ 
covering anything, as a chair or sofa, first remove the 
tacks whiclThold the edging-gimp, then take off the plain 
outsides. This will reveal the tacking. Cut the tacking 
threads, remove the buttons, noting how they are applied. 
Loose all the edge tacks, take off the old cover, mark the 
middle of it, brush it well, and press very smooth. Go 
over the chair with a whisk-broom and a small brush, and 
remove every particle of dust and lint from the tufting. 




3» 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Spread out the new covering flat and smooth, doubling 
it lengthwise, right sides together. Fold the old cover 
likewise, and lay it on as a pattern, taking care to make 
the threads run the same in old and new. Cut with very 
sharp shears, and sew up wherever seams are needed. 
Follow the original cover in finishing. That is to say, 
either bind the bottom and leave it free, or sew it to the 
seat-cover and bind the seam. Next, put the middle of 
the new cover to the marked middle of the frame, tack 
it lightly with temporary tacks along sides and arms; 
then begin tufting straight down the middle, taking great 
pains not to pull the new cover awry. 

The tufting requires upholsterers’ needles and twine, 
to be had at any shop. Thread a needle with three yards 
of twine, double, and knot it; then stick it from the back 
through the highest middle tuft, press the cover in with 
the fingers, arranging it in proper folds, pass the needle 
back, draw it tight, then bring it out again, thread a but¬ 
ton upon it, and again pass it to the back. Fasten there 
with a slip stitch, and go on to the next tuft. Work 
straight up and down, taking care not to draw the new 
cover so it will not reach. When the tufting is finished, 
lay the edge in proper pleats, tack down, and cover with 
new gimp. Finish the back first with a cover of paper 
muslin, and over that a smooth stretch of the furniture 
stuff. It is wise to practise upon something one can 
afford to spoil, as upholstery is among the rare things 
easier done than said. 

Cleaning Pillows, Mattresses, and 

Feather-Beds 

To clean pillows, whether of down or feathers, empty 
the stuffing into a bag of cheese-cloth or mosquito-net- 
ting, tie the mouth of it tight, and wash in a big tub of 
strong white soap-suds, touched up with ammonia. Rub 





Tw °] Repairs ant) Restorations 


39 


the bag between the hands, and souse up and down for 
ten minutes. Rinse in clear hot water twice; do not 
squeeze, but hang to drain and dry—in the sun, or near 
the heat. When half dry pull the bag apart several 
times. When full dry, drop it inside a thicker bag, and 
whip vigorously with a rattan whip for ten minutes. The 
feathers will be like new. There is a slight loss, of 
course. Half a dozen pillows will come through the 
wash about five. Because of the loss, do not wash either 
feathers or hair in set tubs—the fluff going into the pipes 
makes no end of trouble. 

Feather-beds or hair-mattresses can be washed the 
same way. Either is an undertaking, but one worth 
while. Pick up the hair from the mattress before it is 
wet. Let it dry thoroughly before making up anew. To 
do that cut a mattress-tick, sew the bottom and both sides 
well together, bind the seams, and sew on a cover across 
the top. Spread a sheet on the floor, stretch the new 
tick upon it, and set a chair at each corner, to which the 
sides may be attached. Thus they stay upright, while 
the hair goes in. Pack it evenly all over, then draw 
down the cover, and pin it smoothly to the sides and 
across the bottom. Begin at one side and tack, using a 
mattress needle and soft but strong twine—rough twine 
cuts and pulls. Go up and down twice, and finish by 
tying. Mattress buttons are ornamental, but a round of 
thick flannel answers every purpose. 

Feathers in a clean tick freshen wonderfully for getting 
wet with summer rain, and then sunning a week. It is 
much better than the steam-scouring, though the scouring 
is better than no cleaning. Down comforts may be wet 
with clean water, and hung in the hot sun with manifest 
betterment. Cotton out of comforts may be washed like 
feathers, only it needs no bag. When dry, pick or card 
it afresh, or sun well, and whip hard. 






40 


Household Economy [Chapter 


The Soldering-Iron 

Leaks, unless they happen to be in the water-back 
itself, may be held in check with the soldering-iron until 
the plumber comes. If small, they may be mended out¬ 
right. They have so much a habit of developing at the 
most inconvenient times, it is wise to practise with the 
iron until reasonably expert. For a hot-water leak, draw 
the fire, cut off the water, and empty the boiler by open¬ 
ing the lower plug. Hammer the leak gently so as to 
press the rent edges together. Make a little dam round 
about it with wet flour or plaster, sprinkle in powdered 
rosin, hold the stick of solder hard against the break, and 
apply the white-hot iron until the solder runs. As soon 
as the solder cools, turn on the water and test the mend. 

As to Drawers 

A drawer that works hard—either binds in some place 
or is not built true. For the binding, the plane is the 
remedy. Take off two or three good shavings wherever 
there is sign of friction. To test the build, press across 
the back-corners diagonally—if they give, square them, 
and put in screws to keep them so. Closet-drawers built 
in a house or apartment are nearly sure to need the 
screws. Steam-heat plays hob to such an extent with 
glue, unseasoned wood, and poor carpentry, it is always 
well in reconstructions to strengthen everything with 
screws or brads. 

Mending Furniture 

Though liquid glue is so cheap, a glue-pot pays. Melt 
only as much as required—remelting takes away strength. 
Break the dry glue into the pot, cover it with cold water, 
half fill the water-bath around it, and add salt to raise 





two] Repairs anti Restorations 


41 


the boiling-point of the bath. Boil until the glue is clear 
and ropy. Thin for use with strong vinegar or alcohol. 
For fine work melt white glue in china—say a cup set in a 
saucepan—and thin after melting with twice its own bulk 
of gin. 

To mend wood well, scrape away every trace of the 
old glue, and wash the join clean. Wipe it dry. Cover 
both pieces well with the hot glue, press them firmly to¬ 
gether, and tie fast. But do not depend wholly on the 
glue. Turn the mended article upside down, and drive 
short brads diagonally from both sides. They must be 
short enough not to reach the surface. Sometimes a 
screw is better than brads. First make a fine gimlet-hole, 
so deep the screw-head can be countersunk. Put in the 
screw, force it in a quarter-inch under the surface, fill 
the hole with putty, and stain or varnish. But that 
comes after the drying. Leave the glue a week in a mod¬ 
erate temperature to harden, then scrape off the surplus 
glue, sandpaper the join, and polish with oil and alcohol. 






t 


Chapter THREE 

Concerning Closets 

T HE ideal closet is like the dictionary, the 
place where a thing can be looked for with 
the certainty of finding it. To make and 
keep it so requires both knowledge and wis¬ 
dom. The knowledge alone can be put 
into print. Wisdom, like so many other good things, 
comes by nature. That is but a brief way of saying 
that housewives, like poets, must be born, and get a 
deal of making afterward. Notwithstanding, much 
may be done in the face of natural lacks. The bumps 
of order and contrivance are wonderfully susceptible to 
proper stimulation. 

Kitchen-Closets 

Their construction has been sufficiently dealt with v 
(See Chapter Kitchen Convenience.) As to their use 
and keeping much remains to be said. The saying is 
in large measure a succession of Don’ts. For example: 
Don’t put pots and pans behind closet-doors until they 
are thoroughly and scrupulously clean. If cleaning them 
must wait for a more convenient season, leave them in 
the open—upon the hearth, in the sink, or on the kitchen- 
table. Turning a greasy or sticky vessel upside down 
upon a closet-shelf is offering a premium for ancient and 
fish-like smells. Indeed shelves upon which even clean 
vessels are to be kept inverted ought to be full of auger- 
holes—full enough to prevent even a suspicion of musty 

42 


Three] Concerning Closets 43 


air. But make all other orifices, as cracks at the back, 
or where the wall joins, or around the corner posts, 
water-tight, and water-bug-tight, with putty plentifully 
laid on, or with plaster and white of egg. Putty is 
best because it can be washed with impunity. For the 
same reason painting with pure white-lead is the very 
best interior closet finish. White-lead is, however, ex¬ 
pensive. Its place can be well taken by the quick-lime 
whitewash. (See Chapter on Repairs.) The white¬ 
wash will bear quick and careful washing. Moreover, 
it can be renewed quarterly at a slight expense in money 
and trouble. Paint or whitewash walls, joints, the 
under sides of shelves—everything except the shelf-sur¬ 
faces. Leave them untouched. Don't cover them. 
Wash them weekly with soda-water and a little soap, 
and monthly, scour well. 

Strips of wood screwed to the closet-back and filled 
with nails and screw-hooks for hanging up things hang- 
ible nearly double closet space. Fit the strips so neatly 
no creeper can harbour behind them. If they warp, fill 
the warpings with putty. Ironmongery is nearly al¬ 
ways heavy, hence best kept to itself on a low, handy 
shelf. It is a mistake to put it too low—stooping is 
tiresome enough without lifting a weight in rising. 

Don’t put away cooked food in a kitchen-closet. It 
will taint the air, and itself in turn be tainted, though 
ever so faintly. Smells have for long been held to come 
from faint volatile particles, escaping from odorous sub¬ 
stances and diffused in the air. The newest smell-ex¬ 
planation is that, like light, smells come through the 
perception of special vibrations. The persistence of food- 
odours certainly lends a colour of reason to the new the¬ 
ory. It is this persistence which makes various econo¬ 
mies unthrifty. For example, by saving a cent’s worth 
of left-over turnips, cabbage, or such matter, one may 
develop at least $5.00 worth of bad smell in a closet. 



44 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Closets located above set-tubs ought to be set apart 
for earthenware. The rising steam will rust and cor¬ 
rode iron, tin, copper, and brass. If general use of a 
closet so placed is imperative, upon wash-day mornings 
put a lump of quicklime, as big as the two fists, in a 
platter upon every shelf, and close the doors tight. The 
thirsty lime will drink up the moisture and keep the 
closet dry and sweet. The same precaution is wise in 
muggy weather, especially if it is hot as well. Indeed, 
throughout the dog-days a cheese-cloth bag of quicklime 
suspended in every kitchen-closet will do much to make 
the kitchen-atmosphere entirely wholesome. 

In closet-scouring a flood of water is by no means es¬ 
sential. Take out everything, then, beginning at the 
top, with a soft, dry cloth, wipe away every trace of 
dust and all loose particles. Rub all the grease-spots 
well with either a good scouring soap or a jelly made 
by dissolving laundry soap in a little water and adding a 
cupful of very strong soda-water. This jelly ought to 
be kept on hand in a low, wide-mouthed glass jar. Use 
squares of coarse crash, or even burlaps, for scouring 
cloths—closely woven stuffs do not take up dirt half so 
well. Wring a cloth out of very hot water, and go over 
the whole shelf. Leave it wet, but not sloppy, when a 
soaped spot has to be dealt with. Wash the soaped spots 
last, then with clean, hot water go again over all the 
shelf-surface, rubbing hard, and leaving it as dry as 
possible. The whitened walls should be wiped over with 
the cloth wrung out of soap-suds. Zinc-paints are bad 
in closets, because they bear scouring so ill. White-lead 
with reasonable care ought to last ten years. 

Don’t set sticky dishes or bowls or platters upon a 
closet-shelf. That is one way to draw all the host of 
crawl-y things which so infest slovenly kitchens. Apart¬ 
ment kitchens often suffer such visitations in spite of the 
utmost vigilance in their keepers. Roaches and water- 





Three] 


Concerning Closets 


45 


bugs are rank expansionists, and delight from the van- 
tage-ground of one ill-kept kitchen to overrun and pos¬ 
sess half a dozen clean ones. Putty well applied does 
much to foil them. If any slip past the blockade kill 
them with powdered borax. Mix it with its own bulk 
of powdered sugar, and strew it liberally wherever the 
insects congregate. Benzine is also useful in such war¬ 
fare. Use it only in summer and when it is broad day¬ 
light. Open all the windows wide, put the benzine in 
something with a long slender spout, and go over, under, 
through, above, below, between, beneath, everything that 
can hide a bug. Keep the liquid running a fine steady 
stream—thus only will no guilty crawler escape. Close 
doors but leave windows wide, and let the room stand 
untouched for twelve hours, or twenty-four if possible. 
Beware of striking a match or carrying a light in it until 
the benzine fumes have been dissipated. 

Pantries and Store-Rooms 

Pantry requirements are a trifle paradoxical, in that 
they are air and light, and also air and darkness. A pan¬ 
try window is essential, even if it be no more than a tiny 
two-light sliding sash set anyhow in the outer wall. A 
regular window is much better. It need not waste wall- 
space—shelves can be so placed across it as to admit its 
working. But if a pantry can be allotted as much as six 
feet of house-wall, it is better to have the window set cross¬ 
wise, with the lower edge a little more than breast-high. 
Then, by making one sash of glass, and filling the other 
with wire-gauze, the pantry can have a fresh-air closet. 
Have a tight deal partition running out from the sash 
division as far as space permits. Put shelves around 
three sides of the two compartments thus formed, and 
close them with tight light deal doors. Thus the pantry 
can subserve its proper purposes, and the fresh-air closet 




46 Household Economy [Chapter 


banish the iceman for six months in the year. Through¬ 
out the other six it is no less useful. All manner of food 
keeps beautifully in it, from one meal to the next. Fur¬ 
ther, things may be put in it while still warm. If they 
have to go into a tight, unventilated place as a refrig¬ 
erator, they needs must be stone-cold, or they will get 
soggy and smelly. 

Always set away cooked things in dishes with ven¬ 
tilated covers. Wire-gauze dish-covers are excellent, but 
too costly for many purses. A good substitute is a hoop 
or oval of stout wire, with either cheese-cloth or mos¬ 
quito-net sewed firmly over it. Make the hoops of sizes 
to fit all sorts of dishes, or, rather, of sizes to stand an 
inch beyond the edges they must cover. The weight of 
the wire holds them well down. Every week drop the 
covers in a wash-boiler with water and a little soda, boil 
for five minutes, and dry in the sun. 

Light and lime, the best of all antiseptics, should be 
relied on to keep the fresh-air closet sweet. Hang a bag 
of quicklime somewhere, and change the contents as fast 
as the lime slacks. In country or suburban houses ants 
are often a plague. A ring of air-slacked lime, an inch 
wide and half an inch deep, will keep them out of a dish 
holding food. They cannot crawl over a shelf thickly 
dusted with powdered lime. But, since they travel al¬ 
ways by definite roads, it is well to find the path, and 
block it by a smear of coal or pine-tar, applied, if possible, 
outside the pantry. 

Save in freezing weather, keep fruits, vegetables, and 
cut flowers in the fresh-air closet until wanted. Cooked 
meats and salt ones can stay there the year round, and 
fresh meats in cold weather. It is, further, the place 
for such things as cheese, nuts, raisins, dates, and olives. 
All of these lose flavour or grow rank by keeping in 
a warm place, or by suffering great alternations of tem¬ 
perature. 





OUTDOOR FRESH-AIR CLOSET 



































































































































































Three] Concerning Closets 


47 


People with plenty of ground-space, yet constricted 
houses, may profitably take a leaf from the book of South- 
country household economy. It is common there for 
country-folk to have a sort of outdoor fresh-air closet, 
a small detached structure set in the shadiest place pos¬ 
sible, standing upon four tall legs, with a flat shingle-roof 
of barely enough pitch to shed rain. The floor is at least 
four feet from the ground, and the whole structure only 
big enough to reach well across. There are shelves all 
round, and the weather-boarding up next the roof is full 
of tiny auger-holes. The door fits tight, and fastens with 
a lock. Around each of the four legs there is commonly 
a tar-bandage applied six inches above the ground. This 
traps venturesome ants, spiders, and the like, thus keep¬ 
ing the inside clear. The structure is whitewashed in¬ 
side and out twice a year. In hot weather floor and 
shelves are washed every morning, and scoured twice a 
week. Such a fixture should not cost over three dollars 
even if one hires it built; and it is certainly among the 
handiest things one can have about the house or yard. 

How and When to Keep Things 

Preserves, jellies, pickles, catsups, etc., keep best on 
the floor. Set them in orderly rows beneath the lowest 
shelf. The cool, equable temperature there is just right 
for them. In front of them hang a thick curtain. Stand¬ 
ing in the light makes them insipid and pulpy. Contrari¬ 
wise, all manner of things put up in sugar are improved 
in colour and flavour by sunning for several days just 
after they go in glass. Jelly that will not “ jell ” is some¬ 
times reformed by sunlight into beautiful solidity. 
Sunned preserves, especially if there is a brandy paper 
on top of them, almost never mould, no matter how long 
they may be kept. Any sort of pickles or preserves will 
run out in spite of hermetic sealing if the cans are set 




5 ° 


Household Economy [Chapter 


light. Set the shelves along two sides, with the lowest 
one high enough for a packing-trunk to slip well beneath 
it. If possible have sliding shelves to draw out from 
under the stationary ones. They should be in yard-long 
sections. By their help a shelf-section’s contents may be 
examined, turned over, brushed, and replaced without 
moving from one spot. Where many heavy trunks are 
kept, it pays to have staunch hardwood rails on the floor 
below the shelves. The trunk-castors run on the rails 
without dragging or hard tugging. Cedar or camphor 
wood shelves and panels are put into the store-rooms of 
the finest modern houses. The mass of us, however, 
must put up with clear pine or deal. Have it painted 
white, and very well varnished. Dust well spring and 
fall, then go over the varnish with a woollen cloth wet 
in kerosene, rubbing lightly and quickly, but leaving no 
spot untouched. This will make the wood as uninviting 
to the moth-miller as even sandal-wood. Sachets of cot¬ 
ton-batting, rolled in sandal-wood sawdust and laid be¬ 
tween thin silk, may line to advantage the shelves devoted 
to fine woollens. Such things as Cashmere shawls should 
be well sunned at least two days, brushed over three times 
with a thick soft brush, then shaken hard, and folded 
lengthwise with a layer of clean newspaper between the 
folds. Next roll them up smoothly into a hard round 
roll, sew on a tight cover of clean old linen, then slip in¬ 
side a paper-bag and paste up the mouth. If no moth- 
eggs are inside at the rolling up, none will be there at 
the unrolling, though it may be five years later. Neither 
tobacco, camphor, nor the evil-smelling so-called cam¬ 
phor-tar, will kill hatching moths. The utmost they can 
do is to warn away the miller-mother. 

Camphor alone is dependable for even that service. 
Get the gum, and break it into little lumps. Sometimes 
spraying with camphor dissolved in alcohol acts as a pre¬ 
ventive. It must be, however, applied only to shelves 





Three] 


Concerning Closets 


5i 


or outer coverings, as it dries into white crusty specks 
disfiguring to fine fabrics. 

Sun and brush blankets well. Put little cheese-cloth 
bags of camphor into the middle of the roll, and sew 
each pair up tight in old linen. Pack them down in the 
blanket-chest, which should occupy one side of the store¬ 
room. If it is built in the wall, so much the better. 
There can be broad shallow drawers all along the bottom. 
Failing that, a movable chest, cedar if possible, should be 
provided. Even a big wooden drygoods-box is better 
than no chest. Stop the cracks well with putty, paper 
the outside, and paint the inside white. Have the lid 
hinged on, and close with a spring-bolt outside. A strip 
nailed around the cover, so as to stand half an inch lower 
than the edge, helps to keep the contents safe. If per¬ 
fectly sure as to the condition of things packed inside, it 
pays to seal the edge of the box with a strip of tough pa¬ 
per pasted on, and leave it unbroken until the things are 
needed. 

Quilts and comforts keep best hung over poles. Fasten 
wooden curtain-poles stoutly so as to stand a foot from 
the wall. Space permitting, have them of full comfort 
length. Several may be set between ceiling and floor, 
the lowest coming a little less than waist-high. Spread 
quilts and comforts evenly across the poles, one on an¬ 
other, and cover the mass with a sheet of unbleached 
muslin reaching well below the lowest edges. Reserve 
the uppermost pole for hangings, especially if there are 
any of plush or velvet. Sun, whip, and brush them well, 
baste the edges together, pile in, then baste the doubled 
edges strongly together, and hang so the seam lies flat 
along the pole. If other hangings are to occupy it, put 
the velvet ones on top. Brocade may have much the 
same treatment. Doubling the right side in prevents 
fading, and if hung smoothly but lightly full length 
on the pole, there is no perceptible crease. On top 




5 2 


Household Economy [Chapter 


of all put a muslin cover big enough to shroud every¬ 
thing. 


for Rugs and 




Before putting away rugs, spray them with strong 
black-pepper tea, using a very fine atomiser. Sun well 
after the spraying, but beat well before it. Beat again, 
using a strong rattan, brush hard on both sides, then 
spread smooth, and paste together a sheet of newspapers 
a little bigger than the rug. Get a round wooden roller 
two inches through, and as long as the rug is broad. Lay 
the paper on the right side of the rug, then put the roller 
at one end and roll up rug and paper, keeping the rolling 
true throughout. Next roll up spirally in a long strip 
of soft old cloth, wisp down the ends, and tie fast, then 
cover with tough manilla paper, paste down the straight 
edge of it, slip a stout paper-bag over each end of the 
roll, and paste the bags firmly in place. As long as they 
are unbroken no moth will get in. This is, of course, 
only for valuable rugs. Ordinary ones may be beaten, 
sunned, brushed, sprayed with the pepper tea, and rolled 
up with a sprinkle of gum-camphor between the folds. 
Cover the rolls with burlap or manilla paper. If there 
are already moth-eaten places, and presumably moth- 
eggs, before rolling up cover the moth-eaten spots 
with a wet towel and iron with a blazing-hot iron. 
The steam will make an end of moths, actual or poten¬ 
tial. 

Carpets, even carpet-lengths, ought to be thoroughly 
cleaned before going in the store-room. Fold them 
smoothly and compactly, with a liberal allowance of cam¬ 
phor, and wrap in big muslin sheets. Keep them well 
toward the middle of the store-room, where light and air 
are unobstructed. The skylight should be raised every 
bright day in summer. If sun-fading is feared, fit a light 




Three] 


Concerning Closets 


53 


frame just below the skylight, and tack cheese-cloth over 
it to temper the rays. 

Pack away fine winter garments, silks, cloths, and vel¬ 
vet, in roomy trunks, shallow rather than deep, or with 
shallow trays. Brush away all dust, untack folds and 
loopings. With a velvet skirt it pays to take out all the 
waist-pleats. Fold as smooth as possible, but put a roll 
of cotton-batting inside tissue-paper at every fold, so 
there may be no crease. Stuff sleeves likewise full of 
tissue-paper, crumpled. Lay waists and coats shapely, 
with crumpled paper inside. Cover the trunk or tray 
with a soft white cloth before laying in the garment. 
When the folding is over, draw the white sheet smoothly 
across every part, and tuck in the ends so as not to crush 
or crumple. On top of the white spread lay bags of gum- 
camphor and wisps of cedar-shavings. The trunk may 
have further the sandal-wood sachets. But in moth¬ 
fighting it cannot be too often repeated prevention is the 
only effectual way. 

Particularly with furs. Sun and comb them at least 
a week, then go over them three times with a stiff thick 
brush, parting the hair at all creases or folds, and brush¬ 
ing the pelt underneath. Small things, as muffs, tippets, 
and collars, as well as small capes, can be wrapped in clean 
newspaper—the ink is a moth-preventive—then wrapped 
again in old linen, sewed snug, and popped inside a paper- 
bag; then the bag-mouth pasted, and, after drying, the 
whole laid in its proper box. Fur garments ought to be 
hung upon coat-hangers, first sunning and brushing them 
well. Fasten the fronts, then cover them with several 
thicknesses of newspaper. Let the paper go lower than 
the bottom, and double and pin up the surplus length. 
Next slip a mothaline bag of generous size over the gar¬ 
ment, pass the hanger-hook up through the hole in the 
top of the bag, and tie the bag very tight around the 
hook-shank. Pin up the extra bag-length all along the 



54 


Household Economy [Chapter 


bottom, folding it over at least three times. Hang the 
bagged garment where nothing else will touch it. Thus 
it is saved from both creasing and moths. 

Storing summer things is simple. All that is needed 
is to have them free of starch, dust, and grime, to fold 
them neatly, and cover them from the light. Frivolous 
summer frocks can go in the boxes. Other things are 
much better laid upon the shelves. Where there are 
many children it is a good plan to put each little one’s 
garments together upon a shelf, with the name marked 
plain on top of them. It is the same with summer room- 
fittings. Put them together, and mark as “ The Blue 
Room,” or “ The Red Parlor.” Denim, which washes 
badly, may be stored after a good brushing, and be ser¬ 
viceable next season. But chintz, muslin, and net hang¬ 
ings are best put away rough dry. 

The Linen-Closet 

A word in the beginning. Linen ought to be for use, 
not for show. Better the simplest cloths fresh from the 
laundry, even if something frayed, than the richest damask 
yellow with long lying. Indeed, it ought to be a car¬ 
dinal rule in every home that the silver, linen, and fine 
manners are to be used every day. Use brightens and 
whitens all three, and does not wear them anything like 
so much as lying in wait for company. 

Use, which is thus essential, should be also equal. To 
insure that, have a drawer apart from the main linen- 
closet. In it store a two-weeks’ supply of every linen 
requisite. When all its contents have had their turn, take 
them back to the main closet and bring others in their 
stead. 

Since a linen-closet may be nothing more than a cuddy, 
or a stately apartment all over shelves and tables, it is 
worse than idle to dogmatise regarding its arrangement. 







THE 


LINEN-CLOSET 



















































































































































































































Three] 


Concerning Closets 


55 


But in a general way one principle runs through great 
and small. It is orderly and systematic placing. In the 
linen-room of the world’s finest hotel there is a specially 
marked shelf-space for the linen belonging to each of the 
seven-hundred-odd rooms. Linen is not a conventional 
term there. Sheets, pillow-cases, cushion-slips, are of 
real linen, Irish or German, grass-bleached, hand-sewed, 
and embroidered with the hotel initial within a wreath of 
oak-leaves. Further, in the table-linen section each day 
of the week has a shelf. Monday’s cloths and napkins go 
out only upon Mondays. Tuesdays it is the same. Even 
in times of great stress the rule keeps intact. The pro¬ 
prietor had rather buy extra things than to set the system 
of giving out and checking the main supply awry. 

This linen-room keeps books with itself. Every room 
is charged with the things issued to it. The chamber¬ 
maids and laundrymen are responsible for its safe return. 
The laundry, which is up in the airy tip-top, beautifully 
lighted and ventilated, can wash, iron, and return five- 
thousand-odd pieces within an hour, and that without 
strain. Steam, steel, and electricity do the work, plenti¬ 
fully supplemented by human skill and muscle. The big 
steam mangle-rollers are ten feet long and four feet 
across. Six girls stand either side of them, to spread the 
damp linen in place and take it off as it comes up smooth, 
dry, and shining. 

No housewife, even the richest, can command all that. 
It has been mentioned merely by way of exemplifying 
the value of system. What the hotel does in large the 
housemother may do in little, by dividing her shelves 
and marking the spaces appropriately, as: “ Huck Tow¬ 
els,” “ Hemstitched Towels,” “ Damask Towels for Blue 
Chamber,” “ Towels and Sheets for Back Room,” or 
“ Nursery Sheets and Towels.” Tie each week’s wear 
with a separate-coloured ribbon, and beside the marking 
put matching ribbons, numbered one, two, three, four. 




56 


Household Economy [chapter 


With the blue ribbon empty, there cannot be a question 
as to which colour’s turn is next. 

With a sufficient towel supply, divide the towel-shelf 
and mark the divisions with the days of the week. Thus 
use can be regular. To insure that with napkins, always 
take out fresh ones from the bottom of the pile, or else 
put the clean ones underneath as they come from the 
wash. Keep shelves and drawers as nearly as possible free 
from dust. A good way to do it is to curtain them with 
thin white oil-cloth, daintily scalloped along the bottom, 
and deep enough to reach from shelf to shelf. Tack the 
upper part to the shelf-edge, and along the bottom sew 
stout hooks, eight or ten inches apart. Opposite every 
hook, in the shelf above and below, put in a tiny brass 
screw-eye. Hook down the curtains after the shelves are 
filled, and hook them up out of the way in taking down 
or putting up linen. 

To light a closet of any kind, but more especially a 
linen-closet, the safest thing next after electricity is a 
light clear glass lantern, with wire-guards outside the 
glass. Swing it by a light chain-pulley some little way 
in front of the shelves. Thus a touch sends it up or down, 
throwing the light wherever it may be needed. 

The fine invisible dust which oozes into every space 
not hermetically sealed will get into a linen-closet in spite 
of all precautions. Therefore wipe off the shelves of it 
once a month, with a clean cloth dipped in boiling water, 
and wrung very dry. As to finish, the shelves may be 
merely sandpapered and varnished, but are better painted 
white. In damp weather open the linen-closet an hour 
each day. Rose-leaf sachets give the linen an exquisitely 
delicate fragrance. Gather freshly opened petals, dry 
them in the shade, and when thoroughly dry mix with 
half their own bulk of dry lemon-peel and calamus-root 
—both grated. Strew the mixture thickly over sheets of 
wadding, and tack the wadding between either cheese- 



Three] 


Concerning Closets 


57 


cloth or china-silk. Fasten the sachets to the closet-walls 
or lay them along the shelves. Now and again give them 
an hour’s sunning. It freshens them wonderfully, and 
brings out the odour anew. 

Housemaid’s and Lamp Closet 

A housemaid’s closet is most conveniently located 
either in the back hall or just off the kitchen-door. The 
best shape for it is the corner-cupboard, with the lowest 
shelf about table - height. There should be shelves 
above—for dust-cloths, dust-pan and brush, whisk- 
brooms, polishing-cloths, polishes, wax, scrubbing-block, 
scrubbing-brushes, indeed, the whole paraphernalia of 
housekeeping. Upon the door there should be hooks 
near the top, from which brooms can be hung. Under¬ 
neath the shelf keep two fibre-pails, one big, one little. 
They can sit one in the other, with mops and floor-cloths 
on top of them. This will leave space in even a shallow 
cupboard for a demijohn or glass oil-can. A pair of very 
sharp smallish shears ought to hang beside the lower shelf 
for trimming wicks when lamps are filled. They ought 
to be filled on the shelf, which may be some inches wider 
than those above it. Only the lamps proper should be 
brought there. Chimneys, shades, and ornamental bases 
must be left elsewhere. Set the lamp to be filled in a 
clean shallow pan; then, if the oil runs over, it neither 
messes the shelf nor is wasted. 

Clothes-Closets 

There is sex in clothes-closets. A man’s is distinc¬ 
tively unlike a woman’s. It needs not only hooks in 
plenty, but a stout pole some way from the back, over 
which trousers may be so laid as to preserve and heighten 
the cherished fresh creases. It needs, further, side- 




58 


Household Economy [Chapter 


shelves for waistcoats, extra depth for cross-hanging of 
coats on coat-trees, wide shallow shirt-drawers, and 
specially contrived spaces for hat-boxes, to say nothing 
of boot and shoe room and a small drawer for handker¬ 
chiefs and ties. 

Given all these, a man with neat impulses may keep 
himself in a fair estate of clothes. Since his closet is 
likely to be crowded full, the wall-finish must not rub off. 
This makes the white-lead finish, well varnished, imper¬ 
ative; also the puttying of all cracks big enough for moth 
or dust to lurk in. After all that is done the closet should 
have a weekly dusting, along with all its contents, and, 
twice a year, a going over with a very soft paint-brush 
dipped in turpentine mixed with its own bulk of kerosene. 
This for moth-prevention. Be careful to leave the closet 
empty until the softened varnish has had time to harden. 
Work quickly with the brush so as not to streak the var¬ 
nish, nor leave the paint in ridges behind it. 

This is the treatment for a clean clothes-closet, regard¬ 
less of sex. A woman’s closet, however, needs ever so 
much more elaborate appliances to properly accommo¬ 
date her finery, and at the very least four times as much 
space. At one side it should have broad shallow drawers, 
coming almost waist-high, and long enough to hold a 
skirt without folding. Above them there should be a 
shelved press closed by doors, and divided into square or 
oblong compartments. These are for hats, bonnets, and 
waists too frail to bear their own weight. One end ought 
to be cut up into tiny cabinets, each just big enough to 
hold a pair of shoes, stuffed lightly with tissue-paper. 

Such a closet takes up about one side of a dressing- 
room. Over against it there is a press full of drawers 
and shelves for all manner of dainty underwear. Very 
elaborate tea-gowns and extra-crushable skirts are swung 
to the ceiling upon easily lowered pulleys working over 
hooks. Thus it appears that the proper housing of my 



Three] Concerning; Closets 59 


lady’s fine wear is no light matter. Meditating upon it, 
one wonders how on earth Queen Bess kept her three 
thousand gowns—if she carried them about with her on 
royal progresses or left them scattered through her pal¬ 
aces—only less numerous than her lovers. 

In closets of this sort almost every fine frock has its 
own special winding-sheet of muslin, soft and fine. For 
hanging skirts the winding-sheet, or, rather, bag is bell¬ 
shaped, so as to cling without crushing. Since all these 
things are for the favoured few, pass we to accommoda¬ 
tions befitting the mass. Even in the simplest sort of 
closet, one that is no more than a curtain swung from a 
broad board overhead, the careful methods of fine folk 
are very well worth while. Any skirt wears better if it is 
hung so as not to drag. The plainest bodice is worth 
a wire-hanger. Old sheets may save the one best gown 
fresh and dainty throughout a season’s wear. And, in¬ 
stead of the cabinet-presses, one may set hats and bonnets 
in wooden boxes, neatly papered, and piled one on an¬ 
other at one end of the curtained space. Wrap each hat 
in a sheet of tissue-paper as it is put away. Take care 
that the paper does not crush plumes and nodding flow¬ 
ers. If there is trimming beneath the brim, put into each 
hat-box a pasteboard bent to the shape of a big thimble, 
and high enough for the small end to hold the crown of 
a hat well above the box-floor. 

Never put away a muddy skirt, nor one very dusty. 
Thus the closet stays clean with a minimum of work. 
Whatever its shape or size or way of having its being, 
the white interior is best, and the filling up of crannies 
pays. Coloured curtains ought to have a white lining. 
If they run on rods, all the better. Draw them away from 
the front for an hour or so upon sunny mornings. Open 
doors likewise. Every sort of fabric and garment lasts 
and looks better for plentiful airing. 





6o 


Household Economy [Chapter 


China-Closets 

The china-closet is an every-day problem whose need 
of solution is often painfully acute. As with other prob¬ 
lems, it is much simplified by the elimination of certain 
factors. Kitchen-ware, for example, ought to keep with¬ 
in kitchen bounds. Strictly ornamental things—“ arti¬ 
cles of bigotry and virtue ”—in silver, silver-gilt, and 
cut-glass ought likewise to be confined to the buffet. 
Further, plate of every sort has no standing in the china- 
closet. Keep it in the original cases within a special 
drawer, or, better, a small safe, if it is massive enough to 
be worth much money. 

Small silver in daily use is well kept in separate boxes 
in a buffet-drawer. Count spoons, forks, ladles, and 
coffee-spoons after each washing. Each and several they 
are so elusive, eternal vigilance is the price of full sets. 

Thus reduced to its lowest terms the china-closet holds 
only china, glass, and heavier clay-wares. In at least half 
the houses it is built into the wall. This disposes of loca¬ 
tion. Home-makers have to accept the goods and the 
ills the landlords provide. Where choice is possible, let 
the china-closet be convenient to the sink. With a big 
pantry, set betwixt kitchen and dining-room, the china- 
closet is handiest inside the pantry. But, wherever 
located, it is imperative to have good shelves and plenty 
of them. Very many built-in closets have shelves much 
too far apart. A little money will remedy that. But it 
sometimes possible to make the high shelves answer by 
putting screw-hooks all over the under sides, and hang¬ 
ing there cups and mugs, little pitchers, and such small 
deer. Hang the saucers against the wall back of the cups 
by means of flat wire china-racks. There may be a 
double or even a treble row of the racks. In filling them 
study colours as much as possible. With saucers of 




Three] Concerning Closets 

various sizes, put the biggest at the bottom, unless such 
placing ruins the closet colour-scheme. 

Well arranged, and full of handsome wares, a china- 
closet is among the best ornaments of a dining-room. 
Tint the walls to match the general tone of the room, or 
else cover them with a very thin hard-wood veneer, ac¬ 
curately fitted and tacked in place with the smallest-size 
brads. Varnish the veneer, and keep clean by weekly 
wipings with a soft cloth wrung very dry out of tepid 
water. 

Leave the shelf-surfaces plain, and cover them with 
linen cut to fit, and ornamented with a line of drawn work. 
Heavy butcher’s linen is best, though the soft-toned art- 
linens may be effectively used. Set one shelf apart for 
glass, preferably the upper one. Cut the linen for it twice 
the shelf-width, hem it all round, then double it and lay 
a sheet of white wadding just the shelf-size inside it. 
Thus there is a light pad all over the shelf. It can be 
kept as fresh as the single covers, and will safeguard 
expensive glass. Big pieces of cut-glass, especially 
punch and salad bowls, may break from the jar of setting 
down upon a hard surface. More than that, they have 
been known to break from vibrations due to heavy street 
traffic close about the house. Jarring of any kind, indeed, 
may induce a fracture. The linen-pad stops all this. It 
is, moreover, a fit and dainty base for fine crystal. Never 
set anything inside a piece of cut-glass. To do so is to 
invite calamity. With a crowded glass-shelf, put down 
small pieces first, inverting them; then turn bigger pieces 
over them, taking care that they do not touch. But, be¬ 
fore risking a big bowl thus upon its own margin, it is 
well to test it and see if it presses equally all round. The 
slightest inequality may mean destruction. 

Pressed glass and coloured glass may be piled together 
with comparative impunity. But if, when the pile is 
jarred, any piece in it gives out a harsh rattle, it is wise 



62 


Household Economy 


to recast it. The rattle portends breakage, since it 
shows that something presses unevenly. Slender-stemmed 
wine-glasses look pretty tied in clusters of three, the 
stems crossing, and suspended by bright ribbons from 
screw-hooks in the top. They need not hang low enough 
to menace other things. Claret-jugs can be likewise 
hung—a corner position is best for them. Salvers and 
other flat things may go in racks across the back. In 
that case the back needs a padded linen, like the shelf 
proper. Test hanging things by setting them swinging, 
so as to make certain they will not strike anything else. 

Keep plates carefully sorted and piled, size and pattern 
together. Give big platters room upon the lowermost 
shelf. If it is not properly grooved, tack strips of lath 
along it, and cut the linen for it wide enough to go in 
and out. Stand the platters on edge, the biggest next 
the wall, graduating them toward the front. With a 
very high shelf-space they look prettier on end, the high¬ 
est in the middle, and getting lower toward the ends. 
Handsome covered dishes are best set in a row in front 
of the flat ones. Use judgment and an eye for colour 
in all places. A small, clear yellow bit against a back¬ 
ground of dull blue illumines everything around it. Al¬ 
most any green so situated would be ghastly, though one 
particular tone of green goes beautifully with old blue. 

Make the most of every good bit. That is the first 
china-closet commandment. The second is like unto it 
—it is to keep everything in its allotted space, and as clean 
as washing can make it. Since nothing soiled ought ever 
to go into a china-closet, aside from the weekly wiping, 
it should not need cleaning oftener than twice a year. 
Then wash everything in it, linens included, scrub the 
shelves with tepid soap-suds, rinse well, and wipe very 
dry; then leave the doors open for two hours, and be 
sure not to set anything back in it until the whole space 
is bone dry. 



Chapter FOUR 

House Cleaning 

T HE good word for house-cleaning is—make 
haste slowly. Better one cleaned room a 
day, and comfort therewith, than an epi¬ 
demic of brooms, buckets, scrubbing- 
brushes, and step-ladders, sure to get every¬ 
body’s temper on edge. Take plenty of time, but never 
begin before the beginning. Fretting over work to come 
may hinder, but cannot possibly help. 

For house-cleaning a woman should wear clothes that 
admit of stooping, reaching, stretching, and lifting, giv¬ 
ing as free play to all the muscles as a gymnasium dress. 
A thick union under-suit, no corset, a short flannel skirt 
sewed to a loose low-necked waist, a sweater, and overalls 
make up a costume in which one can climb step-ladders, 
scrub floors, kneel to take up carpet-tacks, lift, bend this 
way and that wholly unhampered. Thus garmented it is 
possible to do much more work than with skirts always 
sopping about, yet not feel so tired. 

The prime necessities for house-cleaning are soap, wa¬ 
ter, and a right good will. But the cleaning will be 
quicker and ever so much easier if these three are sup¬ 
plemented with borax, washing-soda, ammonia, scour- 
ing-soap, scouring-sand, otherwise tripoli; whiting and 
pumice-stone, both in fine powder; alcohol, turpentine, 
benzine, and kerosene. 

One needs, further, dust-brushes, scrubbing-brushes, a 
floor-brush, a whisk-broom, a couple of clean paint- 

63 


6 4 


Household Economy [Chapter 


brushes—one large, one small—a big stiff broom, a soft 
broom, a good mop, plenty of wash-cloths, and great 
plenty of wash-leathers, swabs of many sorts, rubbing- 
flannels, a rubbing-pad, and a couple of light fibre-pails. 

If there are hard-wood floors and hard-wood finishes 
to look after, steel-wool, otherwise fine steel shavings, 
which may be bought at the paint-shops, has many uses. 
To make the rubbing-pad, get a hard-wood block about 
the shape and size of a brick, except that it is deeper, have 
the two upper edges hollowed so it can be readily grasped, 
and mid-way the hollows, fasten a strip of soft leather, so 
as to go easily over the back of the hand. Next cover 
the face and sides of the pad, also the upper surface, ex¬ 
cept at the grip, with alternate thicknesses of stout flan¬ 
nel and wash-leather. There should be at least five layers 
—the first and last of them, leather. Fit each one snug, 
and sew it firmly, before putting on the next. Such a 
pad will last a lifetime, growing better all the while. It 
is for polishing waxed or varnished surfaces; hence, it is 
needless to add, must be kept secure from dust and dirt 
when not in use. 

Cleaning Bed-Rooms 

As in general house-cleaning, the bed-rooms are 
properly the first things to attack. In cleaning bed-rooms 
begin with the closets. (See Chapter on Closets.) 
While they are empty and airing, take down all draperies, 
fold quickly, and send away to be shaken—in the open 
air, if possible. Dust chairs and tables thoroughly, then 
go over them with a cloth wrung out of clean hot soda- 
water, following it with a flannel barely moistened with 
kerosene. Set them outside before attacking the bed, 
and cover with sheets if dust is likely to drift toward 
where they stand. 

Empty bureau and dresser drawers, beginning with the 



Four] 


6 5 


House Cleaning 


topmost, wipe them out with the damp cloth, and follow 
with a linen cloth wet in alcohol. This will leave neither 
odour nor dampness to prevent putting back the con¬ 
tents immediately. When the drawers are finished, dip 
the alcohol-cloth in a little powdered whiting and rub the 
mirror quickly, finishing by rubbing over with a dry flan¬ 
nel. If there are spots on wood or marble, treat as di¬ 
rected. (See Chapter on Restorations.) Clean the 
wash-stand in the same way, and, if movable, set it out¬ 
side with the rest. 

Wash the toilet-ware very clean, and fill commodes and 
slop-jars with boiling hot soda-water. Set them in the 
air, and leave for at least six hours. Sterilise tooth-brush 
holders and soap-dishes either by boiling in soda-water 
or by filling them with corrosive sublimate in solution 
(see Chapter on Disinfectants), and letting them stand an 
hour. If corrosive sublimate is used, the vessels must be 
afterward very well washed, as it is a deadly poison. It 
is, however, the most efficient weapon against bacterial 
infection and every sort of contagion. 

Take off bed-linen, fold, and send to the laundry. 
Hang blankets and comforts to air. Beat bolster and 
pillows hard for a minute, then brush them all over with 
a clean whisk-broom. Wipe any soiled places over with 
a cloth wrung out of hot soda-water. Then with a clean 
paint-brush go over all seams and corners, barely damp¬ 
ing them with the corrosive sublimate. It is sure death 
to insect-life either present or potential. Next sprinkle 
well with clean warm water, and lay in the sun, turning 
them once or twice so the rays may reach all sides. 

Take off the mattress-slip, shake it well, turn it wrong 
side out, and look in the corners. Midnight marauders 
harbour there, often past finding out. If found, touch the 
corners with the poison solution before sending the slip to 
wash. Brush the mattress itself on both sides and along 
the edges, also under the tufts. Follow the broom with 





66 


Household Economy [chapter 


the brush and poison, unless the mattress appears very 
dusty. In that case wash it all over with cold salt-water 
before applying the corrosive sublimate. Neither salt¬ 
water nor sublimate will leave a mark, and after them no 
creeping thing can live. 

Wipe off the bedstead with the cloth wrung out of soda- 
water, then go over all the joints with the corrosive 
sublimate. Free the springs of dust, then deluge the 
ends with the poison. Since it is not volatile there is no 
danger in its use. It is not merely an insecticide, but a 
preventive of the first-class. If a room is found infested 
with bugs, every particle of woodwork in it, including 
floor and closets, ought to be washed with corrosive 
sublimate after a thorough scouring. 

Remove pictures last of all, dusting them well, and ex¬ 
amining carefully the backs of any hanging near the bed 
or couch. Clean frames and glasses with a flannel wet 
in alcohol. Set them in the empty closet, and lock the 
doors. Then dust the ceiling, picture-moulding and 
walls, window-blinds, cornices, and transom. Let down 
the upper sash while dusting, but keep the lower ones 
closed. 

Next sprinkle the floor well with clean sawdust slightly 
damp. This if it is matted or carpeted—rugs must be 
removed before dusting the walls. Sweep up the saw¬ 
dust with a stiff broom wet in hot water, and washed 
clean as soon as it shows much dirt. Take up the saw¬ 
dust and sweep again with a softer broom, barely damp¬ 
ened. If the carpet is not to come up, go over it after 
the second sweeping with a cloth dipped in hot water and 
ammonia—a tablespoonful of ammonia to a quart of wa¬ 
ter. Wipe a yard or so at a time, then wash out the cloth 
in plain water, so as to keep the ammonia-water clean to 
the last. The cloth is, of course, dipped in it after wash¬ 
ing, and wrung as dry as possible. 

Next examine the walls well for loose paper, broken 




Four] 


67 


House Cleaning 


places, etc. Repair whatever is found. (See Chapter on 
Repairs.) Wash off all woodwork, clean windows and 
blinds. Look after shades; if soiled, send them to wash, 
or the cleaner. Clean the base-board last of all. When 
it is dry go over it all around with the corrosive sublimate, 
sopping it plentifully behind bed, bureau, and wash-stand, 
and taking care that it runs where the base-board joins 
the floor. If there are pipes for steam-heat, and espe¬ 
cially if they run up and down into other apartments, 
sluice the openings around them with the liquid poison. 
Thus one may minimise the chief plague of apartment 
life, which is—suffering for the bad house-keeping of 
one’s neighbours alow and aloft. 

Now half-raise the lower sash, and put down the upper 
ones an equal distance. Let them stand so several hours, 
until the room is thoroughly dry and more thoroughly 
aired. Dust it well before putting back anything. Hang 
the pictures first, while there is a clear sweep at the walls. 
Bring in the bed next, but be sure everything about it is 
bone-dry. Put up draperies, arrange the other furniture, 
and put down the lower sash. If possible to leave the 
room unoccupied over-night, let the upper ones stay open 
until twelve o’clock next day. 

Carpets and Rugs 

To take up a carpet properly first sweep and wipe it, 
then remove every tack, and carefully fold one-half the 
carpet back upon the other. Sweep the exposed under¬ 
side with a stiff broom well dampened, fold again in half, 
and sweep the under-side. Repeat until the whole car¬ 
pet is in a handy pile, which can be lifted in taking away. 
It is vandalism of the worst sort to drag out either rugs 
or carpets. Take up the lining, one breadth at a time, 
beginning at one end, shaking and brushing free of dust, 
but very gently, and rolling up the length as it is cleaned. 




68 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Number the rolls consecutively, so there will be no un¬ 
certainty in refitting. Lay them out to air, then sprinkle 
the floor thickly with clean, damp sawdust, and sweep with 
a stiff broom. Take long, sweeping strokes and keep 
the broom low, so as not to raise dust. Follow the 
sweeping with a good washing. Do not splash water on 
the floor; it is sure to mar the base-board, and likely to 
damage the ceiling underneath. Use a soft, coarse cloth, 
and warm water with a handful of soda in it, and finish 
by wiping with a cloth wrung very dry out of clear hot 
water. 

Steam carpet-cleaning is no mysterious process as 
many housewives mistakenly suppose. The carpet- 
cleaner is unquestionably a boon; still, all he does is to put 
dirty floor-coverings into a huge drum with slatted sides 
and open bottom, which steam revolves at a high rate, 
while arms inside the drum beat and whip out the dust, 
which a blast of air carries away. Thus it is plain steam¬ 
cleaning is only a very perfect way of carpet-beating. In 
a city house or apartment it is well to have recourse to 
it. But if one has a back-yard, or even a floor-space big 
enough to spread out a carpet, it can be cleaned at home 
even better than abroad. 

With a grass-plot, stretch the carpet smoothly over it, 
right side down; then, with long limber rattan-switches, 
whip it steadily for an hour. After the whipping sweep 
the wrong side twice with a wet broom, and finish by go¬ 
ing all over it with a cloth wrung out of ammonia and 
water. Fold one-half over upon the other after this wip¬ 
ing, then take a very fine, stiff, whisk-broom, and brush all 
of the right side visible. Now tie a double handful of 
either wheat-bran or sawdust loosely in the middle of a 
double square of cheese-cloth, dip the swab thus formed 
in clean ammonia-water, and rub the carpet-face hard with 
it until the swab is dirty. Wash in plain water, then dip 
again in the ammonia-water, and keep on rubbing until 




Four] 


House Cleaning 


69 


all the surface is washed. Fold the carpet again, brush 
and wash the next quarter, then turn over and clean the 
last quarter. Hang to dry and air, taking pains to hang 
it straight. The bran-swab is an excellent thing to clean 
a carpet upon the floor. If the colours are dim and faded 
it may be worth while to use prepared ox-gall, a table¬ 
spoonful to the gallon, in the water in place of ammonia. 

Brush rugs twice upon both sides, then whip on both 
sides, and brush again. Hang them over a line or on 
trestles if there is no grass-plot handy, nor a naked floor, 
upon which they may be spread. Do not clutch them 
by a corner and shake like mad. That fetches out some 
dirt, but not all of it, and is also apt to fetch away part 
of the rug-fabric. With grass and a sunny day, after 
brushing and beating, spread the rugs perfectly smooth, 
then sprinkle them lightly one at a time with tepid water 
through a very fine hose or atomiser, and wipe off with 
a soft clean cloth before the water has time to soak in. 
If a rug is very dirty, lay it in the sun, and shake clean 
hard-wood sawdust thickly over it, let it lie six hours, 
then sweep off with a stiff, clean broom, and finish by go¬ 
ing over with a towel wrung out of hot water, and pinned 
tight over the broom. 

Rugs with white or very light grounds may be cleaned 
by sprinkling with corn-starch mixed with one-sixth its 
bulk of prepared chalk. Let the starch remain several 
hours, and brush it out with a fine whisk-broom, then 
hang in the sun, and beat well before putting down. This 
method is recommended for fine silky rugs, as it injures 
neither tint nor texture, and makes a beautifully clean 
surface. 

Window-Washing 

Begin with the blinds, whether inside or outside. 
Brush the dust from the slats, corners, etc., with a stiff 
bristle-brush, following it with a damp clean cloth. If 



Household Economy [Chapter 


the sashes are removable, take out a window at a time, 
wash, wipe, and set in place—thus mistakes are impos¬ 
sible. With weighted sash, provide a stout leather belt 
for the window-washer, with a strap either side, ending 
in a snap-hook. Fasten staples in the window-frames a 
foot above the sill. With the hooks snapped in these 
staples, one may sit in even a fourth-story window with¬ 
out any risk. It is, then, a mere matter of sliding sash 
up and down. Since a dollar will supply belt and staples, 
they may be reckoned the cheapest form of life-assurance. 

Dust sash and glass very well before wetting. Wash 
the sash first with borax soap-suds or borax-water, and 
dry quickly with a soft, thick cloth. A Turkish towel is 
admirable—all the more so if it is worn to rags. Do not 
slop. On the other hand, have plenty of water in your 
pail. Wring the wash-cloth dry, but be sure it is clean, 
and do not slur spots nor fly-specks. Keep the wash¬ 
cloth off the glass as much as possible. 

For the glass use any one of several excellent scouring- 
soaps, specially made and provided. Lacking them, 
make one by dissolving in a water-bath a cake of good 
white soap, and stirring it thick with powdered and sifted 
whiting, mixed with its own bulk of fine sand, and one- 
fifth its bulk of powdered washing-soda. Rub this to a 
thick lather with a clean cloth and tepid water, cover the 
glass with the lather, a pane at a time, remove the lather 
with another cloth wrung out of clean water, and dry, 
and polish with crumpled newspaper. The same treat¬ 
ment answers for mirrors. If the mirror surface is large 
two can work at it better than one. Cover it evenly and 
quickly with the lather, and let the rinsing begin before 
the lathering ends. Turpentine will remove putty or 
paint-spots from a glass surface. 




Four] 


House Cleaning 


71 


Washing Paint 

All the caustic alkalis deface every sort of paint. 
Hence in washing painted surfaces one should use borax- 
soap or borax in powder, reinforcing both with liquid 
ammonia for very dirty paint or whiting mixed to the 
thickness of cream with tepid water. Half-fill both the 
pails, one with hot water, one with tepid water, put a 
clean cloth in each, and provide additional dry cloths, as 
well as a small blunt-pointed wooden paddle for cleaning 
out corners. 

Brush off every speck of brushable dust, then cover 
the painted surface, whether wall or woodwork, with the 
whiting cream, rubbing it well in with a coarse flannel. 
Wash it off before it dries with the pail of hot water, rinse 
with the tepid water, then rub the painted surface dry. 
Finish one space before beginning another, and, above 
everything, beware of slopping. For corners and curves 
fold the wash-cloth over the point of the paddle, and rub 
hard with it. Work with the grain of the brush, and do 
not rub hard enough to deface the painted surface. 


Cleaning Enamel Finishes and 
Hard-Wood 

Enamel finishes require to be well washed in clean 
warm water, using the merest suspicion of soap or scour- 
ing-sand upon dirty or grimy spots. Afterward they 
must be rubbed with flannel hard enough to make them 
very hot. This develops lustre in them quite as it does 
in hard-wood. Grained and varnished imitations of 
hard-wood are best cleaned with borax soap-suds, never 
letting water touch them, but rubbing well with cloths 
wrung very dry. Afterward they should be rubbed with 



72 


Household Economy [Chapter 


a flannel barely moistened with kerosene. If there is too 
much kerosene, it will dissolve and blur the colours. 

Clean hard-wood with a flannel wet in turpentine, and 
rub afterward very lightly with boiled linseed-oil. Take 
off spots with fine sand mixed in oil. Apply it with a 
leather, and rub with clean leather afterward to bring 
back the polish. Once in two or three years hard-wood 
ought to be well washed in borax soap-suds, then rubbed 
dry, lightly oiled, and rubbed with leather polishers until 
the surface burns the hand. 

It cannot be said too often nor too forcibly that, in 
every kind of cleaning, the very first thing is to brush or 
wipe away every particle of loose dust. 

To Clean Matting 

To clean matting, sweep it twice—first with a stiff 
broom, working along the grain of the straw, then cross¬ 
wise with a soft broom dipped in warm water, and shaken 
very dry. Dissolve a handful of salt in a big pail of tepid 
water, and wash the matting quickly with it, rinsing with 
clean water. This brightens all sorts of coloured mat¬ 
ting, and also saves it in a measure from fading. 

Very light matting is best washed, after sweeping, with 
weak borax-water, or, rather, with cloths wrung out of 
it. Anything whatever slopped upon a matted floor 
makes the last estate of it much worse than the first. 
Dust invariably collects underneath, and, once wet, shows 
through in ugly dark splotches. Cover grease-spots 
thickly with prepared chalk wet with turpentine, let the 
mixture remain for two days, then brush off with a stiff 
brush. If the spot is very big and very greasy, put one- 
eighth as much washing-soda as chalk, and mix with 
water to the thickness of putty. 

Little-used matting, as in spare chambers, or upper 
summer-rooms, should be swept very clean, then wiped 




Four] 


House Cleaning 


73 


with a cloth wrung out of sweet milk. Do this once a 
year; it keeps the straw live, and to a degree pliant. If 
the milk-wash is used in a living-room, or on a piazza, 
follow it by a wiping with very hot clear water, to keep 
the floor from drawing flies. 

Floors 

Tile, mosaic, brick, and stone floors require the same 
treatment—washing with warm soap-suds whenever they 
are dirty, rinsing well, and rubbing dry with a thick clean 
cloth fastened over a flat mop. This is far and away 
better than the special dry mops sold in the stores. They 
are for the most part loose ends, which are shed plenti¬ 
fully at every stroke. For any sort of floor-cleaning one 
needs a handy knee-pad. It should be barely big enough 
to kneel on, yet thick enough to save the kneeler from 
cold, dampness, and sore joints. The pad is especially 
required in cleaning tile-work or mosaic. Indeed, to do 
such work habitually without it is to invite rheumatism 
and all its hosts. 

Any sort of floor must be well swept as the first step 
in cleaning. Never mop a stained or painted floor, nei¬ 
ther wet it all over at once. Begin at the side furthest 
from the door, wash a strip say three feet wide, length¬ 
wise the boards and the depth of the whole room. Use 
borax soap-suds with a little ammonia, and have the 
water as hot as can be borne. Wet a floor-cloth a yard 
square, wring it lightly, double it, spread it smooth in the 
farthest corner, then catch it in both hands, and, keeping 
it flat on the floor, go backward the length of the room. 
If the floor is very dirty, wash out the cloth and go over 
the strip again. Next take a clean cloth, wring it hard 
out of clear hot water, and draw it the same way all over 
the washed strip. Then, with a third cloth, clean and 
dry, wipe the strip, beginning in the corner and working 



74 


Household Economy [Chapter 


backward. If the work is properly done there will not 
be a mark or track upon the clean surface. Repeat until 
the whole floor is clean. By ending at the door, there 
is nowhere a blur. 

Both stain and paint look and last better if rubbed when 
fully dry with a flannel barely moistened in kerosene. A 
stained floor can be oiled the same as hard-wood, but 
must be left untrodden for twenty-four hours afterward. 
Care must also be taken not to leave streaks of free oil 
anywhere on top; they draw out enough of the stain to 
make ugly marks. Full oiling is unnecessary oftener 
than once in three years. If a stained floor is to be waxed, 
wipe it free of dust, soften the floor-wax in a bath of hot 
water, dip a flannel cloth in it, and rub very quickly all 
over. Spots and stains must be cleaned before begin¬ 
ning. (See Chapter on Restorations.) But a few spots 
do not make it necessary to rewax the whole floor. Sim¬ 
ply wax over the cleaned place, and rub hard enough at 
the edges to blend the new wax with the general surface. 

Bare boards—either pine, poplar, white-wood, or any 
of the hard-woods—can be brought to a very handsome 
finish with nothing beyond time and care. Wet them 
sparingly—water swells them and loosens the seams. A 
quarterly wiping and rinsing is enough. In between 
sweep thrice a week, using a soft, clean broom or bristle¬ 
brush, and mop after with a bit of Turkish towel pinned 
snugly over a stiff, stubby broom. A regular floor-brush, 
such as is a necessity with hard-wood floors, will answer 
even better than the towel. Such a brush is broad, flat, 
made of the very best bristles, with a weighted top, and 
a handle set at a very decided angle. It needs to be kept 
very clean of dust, hence should be wrapped in a clean 
cloth when out of use. Rub the floor with it weekly, go¬ 
ing up and down with the grain of the boards. The less 
a bare floor is wet, the quicker it takes on the polish and 
the darkness of age. 




Four] 


House Cleaning 


75 


Water should never touch a waxed or oiled floor, no 
matter what the wood. Even a few drops spilled will 
leave marks unless instantly removed. Sweep such 
floors twice with the bristle floor-brush—not the weight¬ 
ed one; go over afterward with either a dust-mop or a 
broom pinned inside a towel, then clean and refinish spots 
or stains, and complete the cleaning by going over the 
whole floor with a flannel wet in turpentine, then a dry 
flannel or a flannel-mop, made by tacking the coarsest 
woollen cloth upon the bottom of a square mop-board, 
in such manner that the cloth stands in deep tucks be¬ 
tween the rows of tacks. This is much easier than hand¬ 
rubbing. Finish by rubbing with the weighted brush. 

A queen among house-keepers once summed up 
house-cleaning, and especially floor-cleaning, as “ simply 
a matter of common-sense and elbow-grease.” Both 
are sufficiently rare to make a perfectly cleaned house a 
thing of wonder and delight. 

Cleaning Furniture 

Wash willow and wicker in natural finish with a scrub¬ 
bing-brush and plenty of warm borax soap-suds, and dry 
quickly—in the sun, if possible. But first dust thor¬ 
oughly, and look after stains and splotches. Dry-clean 
varnished or enamelled wicker by rubbing it hard with a 
swab of prepared chalk and very fine hard-wood sawdust, 
tied tight in a square of cheese-cloth. When the cloth 
gets dirty put its contents into a fresh piece. After the 
rubbing, brush hard with a soft bristle-brush. Rub very 
dirty places with a swab of tripoli as big as the end of 
the thumb, dipped as lightly as possible in boiled linseed- 
oil. 

To clean upholstered furniture, cover the stuffing with 
a towel and whip with a rattan, shaking the towel when¬ 
ever it grows dusty. Wash all visible wood in tepid 




?6 


Household Economy [Chapter 


soap-suds, dry it very quickly, then rub hard with a flan¬ 
nel and a few drops of kerosene. This for walnut, cherry, 
and oak in any finish. Mahogany needs to be merely 
wiped with a damp cloth, then rubbed for half an hour 
with a clean flannel. 

Brush the upholstered parts very hard, then wipe them 
quickly with a cloth wrung very dry out of clear hot wa¬ 
ter. Follow this with a clean white flannel dipped in 
alcohol. As soon as the flannel shows dirt, wash it clean 
in tepid water. Otherwise the alcohol will dissolve out 
the dirt, and deposit it in streaks upon the surface of the 
fabric. 

Clean out tuftings with a little swab of cotton-wool tied 
on the end of a stout skewer, and wet in alcohol. Throw 
away the cotton as soon as it gets dirty. Clear alcohol 
lightly used will not mark the most delicate brocades. 
The swab must not be wet enough to trickle under 
pressure. 

Clean the intricacies of carved work with the same sort 
of swabs, but take especial pains not to have them too 
wet. With very delicate carving, one must sometimes 
have recourse to a sand-blast, using very fine tripoli, and 
small hand-bellows. Direct a quick stream of sand 
against the carving. In flying back from it, the sand 
brings away the dust. 

Clean gilt furniture with sifted whiting made into a 
cream with alcohol. Cover a small space at a time, and 
rub off before it hardens. If a spot sticks, touch it very 
lightly with clear alcohol. If there is much dirt or deep 
tarnish, wash quickly with borax soap-suds, wipe dry, 
then cover all over with the wet whiting, and let it dry. 
Brush it off with a stiff brush, and polish afterward with 
a soft leather. 

This is the best way of cleaning all manner of gilt 
frames. With very big ones, cover the floor with a sheet, 
then lay the frame flat, and leave it thus until after the 



Four] 


77 


House Cleaning 


brushing. A gilt frame, specked but untarnished, needs 
to be rubbed with a flannel wet in alcohol, and polished 
afterward with a soft leather stretched smooth over the 
palm. 

Brasses—as knobs, handles, and upon modern furniture 
—are commonly lacquered, so can be cleaned with tepid 
soap-suds and a soft cloth. Damp the cloth in place of 
wetting it, and rub quickly. Unlacquered brass can be 
cleaned in various ways. One of the best is to wash it 
well in warm soap-suds, then rub with salt and vinegar, 
using a flannel swab, and polish afterward with dry whit¬ 
ing and a clean cloth. Take care not to let the acid and 
salt touch the wood. If the brass is either open or in¬ 
tricate, it is better cleaned with tripoli mixed to a soft 
paste with sweet oil. Rub hard and quickly, and polish 
afterward with tripoli in powder. 

Hangings 

Shake each length separately, and hang straight over 
a line or trestles, right side under. Whip the wrong side 
hard—a dog-whip or riding-whip is better than a rattan. 
Brush the wrong side hard, and wipe it quickly with a 
damp cloth; then turn the hanging, brush the right side 
well, and hang it in the air. Plushes and brocades must 
be brushed up and down—with the warp, never the woof. 
Anything with a nap or pile should be brushed with, not 
against it. Lace and muslin hangings can be very much 
freshened by folding them smoothly down after shaking 
well, and sprinkling all the folds thickly with powdered 
corn-starch and magnesia. Let them lie all night, then 
hang for some hours in the sunshine, and whip well. The 
starch beaten out takes much of dust and grime with it. 
Use judgment, of course, in the shaking and whipping; 
still, even with rough handling, such a dry-cleaning does 
not injure the fabric as much as washing. Delicately 




78 Household Economy [Chapter 


tinted things, as silks, cotton crapes, and so on, come 
through with their colours safe. This is in itself no small 
advantage, to say nothing of keeping their shape. 

In the Garret 

Neither garret nor cellar should be, as it too often is, 
the privileged abode of disorder. Both should be cleaned 
half-yearly. House-cleaning, indeed, cannot begin in a 
better place than the garret, since, before it ends, a good 
many things are likely to be sent there. Unless the gar¬ 
ret is hopelessly cluttered, give it a coat of whitewash 
every spring. It need not be emptied; simply set things 
aside while going over one end, finish it, clean the floor, 
and cram everything into it, while the other end is made 
fresh. 

Keep garret windows open, but fully screened, all 
through the hot weather. A frill of cheese-cloth tacked 
to the top of the screen-frame lets in air plentifully, and 
keeps out much dust. In spite of it, enough dust will 
get through to make a monthly sweeping worth while. 
No house can be daintily clean with a reservoir of dry 
dust at the top forever sifting down. 

Garrets are made for keeping things—but not all 
things. Old shoes, for example. Bury, burn, give away, 
or sell them. With a single tree at hand it is sinful to 
keep the shoes out of the ground. Put them at least two 
feet down—nature and the tree-roots will do the rest. A 
grape-vine will transmute old leather into the fairest 
fruit and rank green leaves. In the range, under a layer 
of coal, old shoes make the very hottest ironing-fire. 
Lastly, the junkman will take them, sometimes for a 
“ Thank you,” and sometimes for coin enough to buy the 
young people sweets. Either way they are well bestowed 
—very much better than in hopelessly cumbering floor- 
space badly needed for other uses. 




Four] 


House Cleaning 


79 


It is foolish and dangerous to litter a garret with pack¬ 
ing-stuff—straw, excelsior, wrapping-paper, and so on. 
If such things needs must be kept, make them into com¬ 
pact bundles, wire-bound, and plainly marked. A spark 
or dropped match is then no menace to life and property. 
Fires in thousands have been set by a spark or match 
falling among such substances. If the bundles are 
boxed, and set as far as possible from the windows, all 
the better. The garret, a sort of catch-all, is apt to be 
littered all over when cleaning begins. It cannot begin 
better than by thus lessening a very real danger. 

Gather up pamphlets, loose papers, and throw them in 
a barrel or big box, to be sorted over some rainy day. 
Pile up bound books neatly, or, better, set them in shoe- 
boxes, then place the boxes one upon another to form 
a rude book-case. Still, it is rather pitiful to keep books 
of any value sequestered in a garret. They had much 
better be given away. Books of no possible value should 
go straight into the furnace or the range. For bad books 
are distinctly the world’s worst lumber, ill to keep, and 
worse to move. Throwing them away even is a task. 
In fact, burning them is the only way to get even a grain 
of satisfaction from them. 

Go through clothes-chests, hooks, and racks carefully, 
weeding out their contents. There are so many things 
it is economy to throw away. Old hats, ragged furs, 
moth-eaten feathers, for example, which, each and sev¬ 
eral, may be a means of destruction to something of real 
value. Old felt hats must be exempted from the useless 
category. They can be turned into so many things— 
iron-holders, kettle-holders, rubbing-pads for waxed 
floors, rounds to go upon chair and table legs. Indeed, 
comfort wholly aside, the soft hat is distinctly a good 
household investment. 

Wipe off shelves with a cloth wet in camphor before 
laying bundles back upon them. After the floor has been 




8 o 


Household Economy 


well washed and dried, take a big paint-brush and a can 
of benzine, and paint it all over, going at least six inches 
up the whitewashed wall. This is a preventive measure 
against rats, mice, roaches, etc. It must be done at mid¬ 
day with no artificial light anywhere about. The win¬ 
dows must stand open after it, and the door leading down 
should be kept closed for some hours, as the benzine 
vapour is highly inflammable. 




Chapter FIVE 

In t\)t Eauntjrp 

T HE house-mother who has a laundry apart 
from her kitchen should rise up and call her 
home’s builder blessed. Still, it is better to 
do the washing in a big, airy kitchen than 
to wrestle with it in a basement, ill-lit and 
poorly ventilated. It is, indeed, axiomatic, that washing 
is best done where splashing water can do no possible 
harm. Splashing in a cellar almost invariably means con¬ 
tinuing dampness; thus, what is gained in space and 
kitchen tidiness is very often lost many times over in 
health and comfort. Dampness wholly aside, a cellar 
laundry is bound to mean carrying much weight up and 
down steps. Cellar drying is inadvisable. Daylight, 
even of the wannest and stormiest, is a wonderful sweet¬ 
ener and disinfectant. 

Laundry Equipment 

Set-tubs of soapstone or porcelain are immeasurably 
the best. The trouble is that in many cases they are too 
small and too few, especially in apartments. There it is 
rare to find more than two, whereas first-class laundrying 
requires at least three. 

Next to set-tubs come cedar ones with brass hoops. 
A nest of four, fitting snugly one within another, will 
with reasonable care last ten years, besides being ever so 
much lighter and handier than tubs of pine or poplar. 

81 


8 2 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Keep the tubs together between wash-days, and pour a 
little clean water into the upper one. This will save all 
from shrinking, yet will breed no smells nor mould. In 
use set them upon a long, stout bench, so proportioned 
in height to the washerwoman there will be no need 
to stoop much over the work. If space is scant, have 
the bench-legs hinged on, so they may be folded, and 
the bench stand or lie flat when not required. 

The new glass wash-boards are clean, durable, and 
good for the clothes. Their one drawback is that they 
are a trifle heavy. Sanitarily they are far and away better 
than the wooden zinc-faced sort, which absorb dirt and 
hold all manner of taints. Indeed, it is unsafe to use 
wooden wash-boards unless they are carefully scalded and 
dried at the end of washing. One that has been used to 
wash clothes from a sick-room, even if there is no con¬ 
tagious disease, should be scalded with soda-water, and 
treated after to a drenching with chloride of lime. In 
contagious sickness, such as measles, scarlet-fever, or 
diphtheria, the best thing is to burn up the wash-board 
outright. 

Wringers ought to be chosen with an eye to two things 
—durability and easy working. Size must, of course, 
depend on the tubs in use. After that, consider these 
things: First, how many parts? The fewer the better. 
Second, what sort of screws must be set? Here, again, 
the fewer the better. Third, the strength of the springs, 
the strain on them, and the sort of rubber? This is cru¬ 
cial, since it is the springs which insure wringing. In a 
general way it may be said that the simplest construction 
is apt to be the strongest. The length of the crank is 
generally proportionate to size; still, it is well to remem¬ 
ber that the crank is, in fact, the lever through which 
power is applied; hence, the longer it can be without un¬ 
wieldiness, the less power will be needed in the turning. 

In wringing, it saves both the wash and the washer- 





LAUNDRY WITH SET TUBS, TABLE, AND CLOTHES-HORSE SCREEN 





































































































































































































































































Five] 


3n tfje Cauntirp 


8 3 


woman to fold clothes to an even thickness, and exactly 
the breadth of the wringer-rolls. Sending things through 
in lumps and bunches strains the springs, and brings them 
quickly to the breaking-point. It is much the same with 
turning the crank. One vicious jerk does more harm 
than steady rolling on a whole wash. As soon as wash¬ 
ing is over, dash clear warm water over the wringer, first 
removing it from the tub and standing it on end; then 
wipe it dry, put a little fresh oil on the bearings to guard 
against rust, and set it away in a dry place, cool enough 
to prevent all danger of warping. 

Copper boilers are best, but cost four to five times as 
much as other sorts. Block-tin comes next in desira¬ 
bility. Next to that, a round flat-bottomed iron-pot. 
It is heavy, and may rust the clothes unless one is care¬ 
ful, but against that one may reckon cheapness, dura¬ 
bility, and security. It does not come in holes at exactly 
the wrong time, as does the cheap copper-bottomed tin- 
boiler. The iron-pot is subject to just one danger—if 
cold water is poured into it while hot and empty, it is 
very apt to crack. But, whatever the boiler, it should 
never be put over the fire without at least an inch of 
water in the bottom. 

Further, any sort of boiler must be kept clean and dry 
between times. Along with it keep the boiling bag, 
which should be of stout unbleached muslin, sewed fast 
at the sides, and furnished with a drawing-tape at top. 
Table-linen and all manner of fine white things must be 
boiled in it, not only to prevent iron-rust, but to keep 
off possible scum-stains. 

Baskets and Sad-Irons 

The best clothes-basket is firm and square, of light 
splint or willow, with strong handles. Keep a clean cloth 
thrice as big as the basket to go in the bottom of it, and 





8 4 


Household Economy [Chapter 


another smaller one, to tuck over the top. To insure 
the cloths being clean, provide two of each, and see to it 
that the spare one is washed every week. Provide also 
a reckless plenty of clothes-pins, with a special light bas¬ 
ket for keeping them. 

Steel-faced sad-irons with reasonably high handles, and 
six or seven pounds in weight, meet the greatest number 
of laundry needs. The variety in irons is so great, every 
woman should be able to find something to her mind. 
As, for instance, the electric-iron, which has a wire at¬ 
tached to the handle, and is thus continuously heated; the 
gas-iron worked on much the same principle by help of 
a light rubber-tube, and several patented contrivances 
whose handles never get hot. Each and all have their 
good points, but, when all is said, the common sad-iron 
is the queen of the laundry. Half-a-dozen of the six-pound 
weight will be none too many. There should be also two 
polishing-irons, two five-pound irons for thin stuffs, and 
a couple of the still lighter ones known as trimming- 
irons. 

Try every one by rubbing the naked palm over the 
surface before buying, and reject it if there is the least 
roughness. It is quite as essential to keep the faces 
smooth; therefore do not set them upon hot coals, nor a 
red-hot iron, nor leave them very hot too long. High 
heat long continued gives rise to molecular changes that 
break up the surface after a little while, and make it show 
under the microscope numberless fine honeycomb pits. 
Light mats of soapstone or asbestos come in handy when 
the ironing-fire is too hot. Still, heat harms irons less 
than dirt and damp. Wash the irons as soon as they are 
cool enough not to hiss, rub them over with a flannel 
dipped lightly in kerosene, and set away. A good place 
for them is a stout wooden-box, set on end, with clean 
board-shelves across the inside. The shelves should be 
just far enough apart for an iron to set upright. Set 



Five] 


fn tfje Cauntirp 


85 


them facing inward, the heaviest at the bottom. If there 
is a fluting-iron, give it the upper shelf to itself, and be 
sure to keep the box dry and clean. 

Where there is a heavy weekly wash, a small watering- 
pot with the finest possible rose comes handy for the 
sprinkling, and is ever so much handier than the tin 
clothes-sprinkler sold in the shops. But the very best 
sprinkler is a good-sized atomiser, such as greenhouse- 
men use for spraying plants. Choose one to fit the hand, 
neither too big, nor small enough to cramp it. It sends 
out a fine misty spray that damps clothes all over, yet 
makes no place sopping-wet. 

Laundry-Stoves 

The variety of laundry-stoves is simply without num¬ 
ber. One that is good and cheap can be easily fitted so 
as to supply hot water independent of the kitchen-boiler. 
It has sloping spaces around the fire-pot for irons, and 
a specially fitted round top to hold the wash-boiler. The 
water-pipe is, in some mysterious fashion, coiled around 
inside, next the fire, then led out either to tubs or a faucet. 
Then there is an oil-stove, price four dollars, which will 
keep three irons going, and hissing hot, at a cost of less 
than two cents an hour. It is, withal, so handily portable 
one may iron in the airiest room of the house with no 
danger of defacing it. If gas is available, it is barbarous 
to iron in a hot kitchen. One of the long stoves with 
perforated burners, each of which heats an iron, can be 
set outside the door of a hall-bedroom, and prove a god¬ 
send to either mistress or maid. 

Ironing-Boards and Tables 

An ironing-table ought to be high enough for the 
ironer to bend her elbows at right angles and work with- 



86 


Household Economy [Chapter 


out stooping. In reckoning the height, allow for a thick 
mat or excelsior cushion under foot—it is a great econ¬ 
omist of strength and backaches. Pick out sound deal, 
free of knots or warping, and see that the drawer works 
easily. To furnish the table properly, take first a soft, 
coarse all-wool blanket, fold it by a warp thread, lay the 
fold upon a long edge of the table, and make very smooth, 
then trim all round, save at the fold, exactly to the size 
of the table-top. Whip the cut edges lightly together 
as it lies, first making sure that the under-side is as free 
of wrinkles as the upper one. Cut a four-inch square of 
stout muslin for each corner, double the squares to tri¬ 
angles, and sew them fast. Their use is to slip over the 
corners of the table, thus holding the blanket in place. 
When the blanket is washed, take off the squares, and 
remove the whipping from the edges. 

Make ironing-table covers of unbleached sheeting. 
Cut them three inches bigger than the table-top all round, 
hem the edges narrowly, and mitre three of the corners, 
sewing them fast. At the fourth corner fold back the 
extra cloth, stitch it down, then in the double, work a 
couple of eyelets either side, and lace a tape through 
them. By tying this tape tight, after slipping the mitred 
corners over the table corners, all need of pins is done 
away with, and a firm, smooth, unwrinkable surface 
assured. 

Cover skirt and sleeve boards the same way—first, with 
double woollen cloth sewed firmly on, then with remov¬ 
able muslin-slips, hemmed at the small end, and laced 
snug over the large one. Fit under and upper covers 
so well either side can be used. A bosom-board is a 
necessity in doing-up shirts. It should be either square 
or shield-shaped, and smoothly covered with double flan¬ 
nel, with fine cotton outside. For ironing laces and em¬ 
broideries, have a square of very thick card-board covered 
four-fold with flannel. If there are many children to iron 



Five] 


fit tf )t Cauntirj) 


87 


for, a small-size skirt-board, and several sizes in sleeve- 
boards, soon pay for themselves in saving time. 

Provide the ironing-table, further, with either a light 
trivet or asbestos mat to hold the irons, a clean wiping- 
cloth, a shallow wooden box with salt for rubbing a 
rough iron smooth, a smaller box for either white wax 
or white soap, and at least three clean, soft holders. In 
addition, furnish the laundry with a folding clothes-horse 
of white wood, which may be turned into a screen as 
clean clothes are hung on it; a big starch-kettle, agate¬ 
ware or copper or block-tin; several cheese-cloth strain¬ 
ers, and at least three sheets of cheese-cloth to cover the 
clean clothes while they air after ironing. 

Wash-Days 

The quickest thorough washing is a long way the best. 
Except for very dirty things, soaking hinders cleanliness 
rather than helps it. But here, as elsewhere, haste is best 
made slowly. Sort the clothes very carefully before a 
piece is wet. Wash table-linen first, then bed-furnish¬ 
ings, then skirts, night-gowns, and so on; then coloured 
things, next stockings and underwear, and, last of all, 
the soaked bits. 

Even with set-tubs two wooden ones of handy size 
help out amazingly. One had better be kept especially 
for table-linen, and for rinsing the finest white things. 
Use the other for soaking, but do not soak too long. An 
hour is enough to soften and dissolve the dirt, yet not 
long enough to set it all through the garment. Soaking 
in suds strong with soda will eat and destroy the fabric, but 
dirt comes out easier and without damage to the fibres 
if the soiled things are wet through with and well wrung 
out of warm soda-water before they go in soak. This 
wetting and wringing out will whiten and sweeten, with¬ 
out hurting the clothes. The caustic soda attacks the 



88 


Household Economy [Chapter 


dirt first, and is washed out or dissolved away before it 
has time to eat the fabric. It must not be too strong—- 
a tablespoonful of soda to three gallons of soft water is 
about the right proportion. Hard water requires a 
fourth more soda, as some of it goes to neutralise the 
lime. 

Keep a sharp look-out for spots and stains in the sort¬ 
ing. Either wet fruit-stains in alcohol, whisky, or cam¬ 
phor, or pour a stream of full boiling water through 
them. A stain once set by suds is thenceforth almost 
hopeless. Beware especially of grass, paint, mud, and 
wagon-grease marks, all of which must be taken out be¬ 
fore washing or not at all. (See Chapter on Restora¬ 
tions.) 

Borax-soaps, which are white and mild with but little 
free alkali, are the best for laundry work. Soap is proper¬ 
ly a salt, a combination of fatty and resinous matter with 
an alkaline base. In a perfect soap the ingredients exactly 
balance, but in many of the cheaper grades there is an 
excess both of alkali and resin. This is why washing- 
powders so often play havoc in the tubs. In soap-mak¬ 
ing the heavier ingredients settle at the bottom of the 
vats. It is this residue, dried, crushed, and mixed with 
free alkali, in powder—as soda, potash, borax—that 
is sold as washing-powder. It unquestionably has 
cleansing power, but must be used with extreme dis¬ 
cretion. 

However, any decent soap, or even soap-powder, will 
answer if only none of it be left in the clothes when wash¬ 
ing is over. It saves both time and strength to dissolve 
the soap before washing begins. Shave a bar fine, cover 
the shavings with water, and set over a slow fire until 
it becomes a jelly. Hot water takes out dirt more quick¬ 
ly and more readily, but cold may be used at convenience. 
The essential thing is to keep it the same temperature 
all the way through. Indiscriminate alternations of hot 




3ftt tfje Caunlirj) 


Five] 


89 


and cold “ full ” all sorts of fabrics, and make them dead 
and coarse-looking. Lukewarm water is best until one 
comes to the boil. Fill the boiler with cold water at the 
minute of dropping in the clothes. Take them out after 
twenty minutes’ boiling, and drop them into a cold rinsing 
water. Rinse a second time in lukewarm water, and have 
the blue water of the same heat. Remember the drier 
and quicker the wringings, the whiter the clothes. It is 
the remnant suds and dirt which make them yellow, and 
it is almost impossible to rinse out the suds if they are 
left to lie long. 

Kerosene in the boil whitens clothes safely, especially 
such as are yellow from long lying. Use a tablespoonful 
to a gallon of water. For things very yellow or grimy, 
make an emulsion of kerosene, clear lime-water, and tur¬ 
pentine in equal parts; shake together until creamy, then 
add a cupful to a boilerful of clothes, and keep over the 
fire half an hour. The same emulsion is good for very 
dirty things, as jumpers, overalls, working-shirts, chil¬ 
dren’s trousers. Use it in conjunction with very strong 
suds, as hot as the hand can bear, and rub it well upon 
the dirtiest spots. Leave the clothes five minutes before 
washing out, and be sure the second suds and the rinsing 
waters are as hot as the first suds. 

Drying Clothes 

It is nearly as essential to hang out things properly 
as to wash them well. If big things, such as table and bed 
linen, dry out of shape, stretching and pulling them 
straight wears them more than use. Hang sheets, table¬ 
cloths, towels, and napkins evenly across the line, ends 
down. Warp-threads are so much stronger than woof, 
if things are habitually hung out lengthwise they will cer¬ 
tainly split along the fold. Indeed, all washable things 
should be so hung out that the weight while wet—which 




9 o 


Household Economy [Chapter 


is thrice the weight dry—comes upon the lengthwise 
threads. 

Take pains to hang out shirts so the bosoms will not 
drag. Once the several thicknesses dry in creases, it will 
be hard work to get them back in shape. It is the same 
with cuffs and collars. Snap them out straight, and hang 
so warp and woof pull true. All these stiff and polished 
things need to get bone-dry before starching. They also 
need to be well wet in blood-warm water before rubbing 
in the tubs. Stiff linen is nearly as breakable as card¬ 
board, especially the fine sorts used in good shirts. 

It is not hard to do up shirts when once the knack is 
learned. After washing and drying comes starching. 
Make the starch by rubbing one tablespoonful of dry 
starch smooth in a little cold water, then stirring it into 
a quart of freshly boiling water. Let it cook about two 
minutes, stirring all the time. When it turns from white 
to a translucent blue, it is done. Add to it a bit of white 
wax, paraffin, or spermaceti, as big as a nutmeg, a tea¬ 
spoonful of salt, and two tablespoonfuls of thick gum- 
Arabic water. Use only the whitest gum, and put four 
ounces of dry gum to the quart of water. It may be 
made in quantity, and kept for use bottled and tightly 
corked. Cook the starch a minute after all the other 
things are in, stirring it hard, and taking care not to 
scorch it. Scorched starch not only taints the whole 
house, but gives the clothes an ugly tint and a very bad 
smell, which it will take several washings to remove. 
Strain through double cheese-cloth while boiling-hot. 
Make a cupful of very strong bluing-water, and stir in 
enough of it to colour the starch rather deeply. 

Fold a shirt-bosom lengthwise down the middle, dip 
it in the hot starch, and rub and knead with both hands 
until sure the stiffening has gone well through it. Wring 
very dry, and hang out as smooth as possible, then look 
the bosom carefully over, and wipe off even the least 




Five] 


tl )t 2Uuntirj> 


9i 


smear of oozing starch. If there are air-bubbles between 
the linen and the backing, stick a pin in them and press 
the plies together. Starch cuffs and collars in quite the 
same way, taking especial pains to have them dry straight. 
Leave on the line until full-dry. For sprinkling, lay flat 
on the table, bosom up, dampen the whole side thor¬ 
oughly, but do not make wet; then fold the sides and 
sleeves over the bosom, dampen the under sides and roll 
up tight, beginning at the neck. Let lie an hour. 

The Way to Iron Shirts 

For ironing fold the shirt straight down the middle 
of the back, and iron the body smooth, taking care to 
move the iron mainly straight with the warp. Next fold 
a sleeve flat along the sloped seam, and iron it upon both 
sides. Iron first through the middle, then take hold of 
wrist-band or shoulder with the left hand, and hold taut 
while the iron goes quite to the join. Open the wrist¬ 
band, lay it flat, and iron hard upon the wrong side, then 
turn and press upon the right side. Next iron yoke and 
neck-band. Then comes the tug-of-war—otherwise iron¬ 
ing the bosom. 

First fasten the neck-band properly, next slip the 
bosom-board inside the shirt, and spread the bosom 
smooth upon it, pressing it out simultaneously with both 
hands. With a thin clean cloth wet the whole linen-sur¬ 
face lightly with weak raw starch. Rub it in very well, 
and, if any place feels sticky, wipe it off with a cloth dipped 
in tepid water. Have the iron hot enough to yellow dry 
cloth if left to stand on it ten seconds. Begin at the bot¬ 
tom of the bosom and iron straight toward the neck, up 
the middle, holding the neck-band in the left hand, and 
pulling hard against the iron. Here as much depends 
on the left hand as the right—the knack lies mainly in 
knowing how to pull properly. 




9 2 


Household Economy [Chapter 


If the bosom wrinkles, or forms one of the warps 
known to laundresses as “ cat-faces,” wet the place with 
clear water, stretch it smooth, and iron over again. Rub 
the iron over with white wax before beginning work, also 
in the salt tray, to insure a perfectly smooth surface. If 
the starch is right, properly made and applied, it will not 
stick to the face. But if a yellowy crust forms upon the 
iron-tip scratch it off with a blunt knife, and be sure to 
wax and salt-polish the iron again before setting it on 
the shirt. 

When the whole bosom is smooth, and nearly dry, take 
one of the polishing-irons, not quite so hot as the others, 
rub the face of it with either polishing-wax or white soap, 
and press the bosom hard all over, bearing hardest upon 
the rounded iron-point. Iron and polish cuffs on a flan¬ 
nel-covered board. Wet them also with raw starch, or, 
more properly, starch-water, press first upon the wrong 
side with a very hot iron, and turn upon the right side 
only when nearly dry. 

Washing and Starching Prints 

Before a new print goes into the tub, set the colours. 
The way of doing that depends on the colours. For 
green, blue, pinkish purple, mauve, and aniline reds, soak 
ten minutes in alum-water, using four ounces of alum to 
a tub of water. For the madder tints, soak in sugar-of- 
lead solution—an ounce of the salt to a gallon of water. 
For black, black and white, grays, and deep purples, dis¬ 
solve a handful of coarse salt in a tub of water, and soak 
about seven minutes. Some blacks are made fresher and 
more permanent by putting strong black-pepper tea into 
the first suds. It is best to try the colour of anything by 
wetting a small piece in the various solutions, and using 
that from which it comes out brightest. 

Prints should never be allowed to get so dirty as to 




Five] 


3fn tf)e JUuntirp 


93 


demand soap. But if they do get very dirty use borax- 
soap, but do not let it touch the cloth. Make a strong 
suds, as hot as the hand will bear. But never let boiling 
liquid touch any printed surface. Borax, in proportion 
of a tablespoonful to the gallon of water, is a milder 
cleanser, and in most cases efficient. Wash through it 
quickly, rinse twice, in water a little cooler than the first, 
and wring as dry as possible. Never stop for a minute— 
standing after wetting is what makes colours run. 

Prints merely crumpled and dusty had better be washed 
with wheat-bran than soap. Tie a quart of the bran 
loosely inside a piece of cheese-cloth, and rub the prints 
with it as though it were a cake of soap. Press the bran- 
swab well into all folds and gathers, wash the clothes 
rapidly in the water, which will be milky-looking, and 
should be barely lukewarm so as not to cook the starch 
washed out of the bran. With very dirty frocks a fresh 
bran-swab may be needed. For dark grounds or black 
put a handful of salt in the bran-water. Rinse in three 
waters. Blue the last of them if there are white grounds 
or much white in the pattern. For buff, brown, or cream 
grounds, colour the last rinse-water with either strained 
black coffee or strong hay-tea. To make the tea, boil 
a lock of bright timothy hay in a gallon of water, strain, 
and bottle, adding enough alcohol to the bottles to keep 
them from souring. 

Sunshine bleaches out a wet print, often fatally. Not¬ 
withstanding, prints cannot be dried too quickly. Never 
hang a printed skirt double over the line. Fasten the 
band over a wooden barrel-hoop and hang in shade. 
Lacking a hoop, stretch it around the backs of two chairs 
set face to face, letting the band come in the middle. Let 
all sorts and conditions of coloured cotton and linen dry 
thoroughly before starching. Mourning prints should 
’ have the special black starch sold in the shops. Make 
yellow starch for yellow and brown prints, colouring it 




94 


Household Economy [chapter 


with either coffee or hay-tea. For white grounds have 
the starch rather blue, and less than half as thick as that 
for shirts. 

Turn everything wrong side out before dipping in the 
starch. Knead and rub the starch well through, but 
never let it run upon the right side. Dry quickly, but 
still in the shade, and do not take down while one thread 
is moist. This is for thick things—prints, chintzes, ging¬ 
hams, chambrays, linens. Airy muslins, organdies, 
batistes, and so on, require different usage. The best 
starch for them is clear thick gum-water, white gum- 
Arabic, or gum-tragacanth. Dip them wrong side out, 
rub the gum well through, and squeeze dry, but do not 
wring. Spread as much as possible, and leave until the 
surface feels limp and a little sticky, neither wet nor dry. 
Take down, roll tight, and cover with a clean cloth. Un¬ 
roll a breadth at a time, and pat and clap between the 
hands until quite dry. This is “ clear-starching,” no end 
troublesome, but worth while, since it is the only process 
that restores the clear, fresh new look to thin fabrics. 

Sprinkle a clear-starched garment very lightly, but 
evenly. Wet splotches upon a semi-dry ground ruin 
everything. Any fabric that hisses under the iron is too 
wet. Thick prints take much more water than muslins, 
but excess is quite as harmful. Leave any sort of print 
tightly rolled at least an hour after sprinkling. Cover it 
so thickly the outside cannot dry. To iron a skirt prop¬ 
erly is in the nature of high art, especially in these days 
of tucks, ruffles, and flares. Iron the trimming first— 
unless it chances to be ruffles that are to be fluted later. 
Press tucks first along the line of sewing—any sort of 
sewing draws for wetting. Hold the tucks hard with 
the left hand, after smoothing perfectly, and go over 
them with an iron just below scorching heat. If they 
run around, press them out on the table; if up and down, 
slip the skirt upon the board, and iron the whole tuck- 



Five] 


95 


Jn tfje Catmtirp 


length at once. At the belt press the iron-point well 
up among the gathers, holding them in the left hand 
while the right moves the iron. 

Iron untrimmed skirts first all over upon the wrong 
side, turn and press very lightly upon the right. Never 
iron anything out of shape—that is, with the threads 
pulled out of their proper right angles. The best way 
to keep from doing it in ironing waists, yokes, etc., is 
always to iron with the warp-threads, and hold them 
straight in front of the iron. 


Washing Curtains 

Thin curtains—Madras, bobbinet, muslin, or Notting¬ 
ham lace—should be shaken free of dust, washed in warm 
suds, squeezing, and laving up and down in place of rub¬ 
bing; boiled, rinsed, blued, or yellowed; lightly starched 
while still wet, and dried as quickly and as straight as 
possible. Instead of ironing, baste broadish hems at top 
and bottom, and run into each a stout unpainted curtain- 
pole, as long as the curtain is broad. Stretch the curtain 
smooth upon the pole at each end, then hang up, sprinkle 
well, and let dry. The weight of the lower pole will 
straighten and smooth it. Repeat until all the curtains 
are dry, then rip out the hems, and press lightly with a 
warm, not a hot iron. If there are wrinkles or cat-faces 
after hanging the curtains, wet those spots, and pull down 
hard upon them. Usually they will dry out as smooth as 
need be. Ruffled curtains can have the ruffles fluted after 
coming off the pole. If hanging is impossible, simply 
stretch the curtains between the two poles. Take care 
that the poles are very smooth, and stout enough not to 
spring. 

Real-lace curtains after washing can be pinned out upon 
sheets spread upon the floor—tedious work, but worth 
while. Pin the corners first, drawing them very square, 




9 6 


Household Economy [Chapter 


then stretch every scallop in line with the corners and 
pin it fast. After all are pinned, go over the whole cur¬ 
tain with a soft damp cloth, patting it hard enough to 
remove the least trace of starch. This makes the cur¬ 
tains look quite new, and does not wear them in the least. 
But with several pairs it is apt to be impracticable—then 
the recourse is to frame-drying. No sort of lace should 
ever be ironed, not even upon a mangle. 

For the frames, get clean stout deals, one by two inches 
and twelve feet long. Saw some in half for end-pieces. 
Bore half-inch holes four inches apart for two feet from 
each end. Have also some half-inch wooden-pegs long 
enough to go through two of the deals at once. Let the 
curtains half dry upon the line, hanging them as straight 
as possible. Take down a pair, pin scallop to scallop 
from top to bottom, and hang the pinned part over one 
of the long deals. Now pin the low edges as accurately 
together, slip inside them another long deal, stretch the 
breadth of the curtain apart, lay on a short end-piece, 
bringing the holes in it over holes in the side-pieces, and 
fasten with pegs. Likewise stretch the other end; then 
with a needle and coarse thread fasten the ends of the 
curtains to the cross-bars. Stand on edge in an airy place 
to dry. Six frames, or three pairs of curtains, will thus 
take up less space than one curtain spread out full-size. 

Stockings and Underwear 

To wash silk stockings and underwear, first soak for 
ten minutes in fairly strong borax-water, then wash rap¬ 
idly, rubbing as little as possible, through good white 
soap-suds about blood-warm—that is to say, about 98 
degrees. Hotter water makes knit-silk harsh and crin¬ 
kly. Squeeze out the suds, but do not wring. Rinse 
through two waters of the same temperature as the suds, 
and hang to drain and dry without wringing. Hang 



Five] 


fit tite CauntJrp 


97 


shirts and drawers smooth, and pull the sides a little apart, 
but not out of shape. As silk dries, so it is apt to wear. 
White silk needs a little bluing in the last water. Col¬ 
oured silk is best left without. 

Do not sprinkle knit-silk to iron it. Wring a thick 
towel out of clear hot water, fold up the dry garment in it, 
and let lie an hour. Make very smooth upon the table, 
and press lengthwise with an iron just below scorching 
heat. Fold stockings wrong side out, along the seam, 
and press from the seam outward, taking care not to 
wrinkle the under side. Fancy lace-woven stockings in 
white and light tints need to be cleaned in a flood of ben¬ 
zine. Lay them flat in an earthen dish, and deluge them 
first upon the wrong side. Wash up and down, until the 
benzine is dirty; then lay in a clean dish, right side out, 
and pour on more benzine. All that remains is to air 
them sufficiently to remove the smell, which commonly 
requires a week. 

Wash heavy stockings and underwear, whether all-wool 
or mixed, as though they were flannels—that is, in luke¬ 
warm borax soap-suds, with little rubbing, and no ma¬ 
chine-wringing. Dry as quickly as possible, but in the 
air rather than by artificial heat. Shape on the line, so 
ironing will not be needed. Ironing, indeed, shrinks 
woollens nearly as much as washing, hence should be left 
off when possible. 

Black-pepper tea will freshen the colour in both black 
and brown stockings. So will a washing in salt water 
before suds touch them. The salt bath need not be re¬ 
peated after the first washing. But, whatever is used or 
let alone, remember always to shake stockings hard, turn 
them and shake again before wetting; also not to wash 
them in dirty or linty suds, after all the other things. 
Though they come properly toward the tag-end of wash¬ 
day, they fully deserve separate clean suds. Damp very 
lightly for ironing, and lay in shape before the iron. 




98 


Household Economy 


Wet very dirty socks or stockings, as those of workmen 
or small boys, with kerosene, and let them lie half an 
hour. Then cover them with very hot water, made slick 
with either soda or ammonia, stir them rapidly around in 
it with a wooden paddle, fish out in a minute or so, and 
wash in clean suds. It will not be hard washing—most 
of the dirt will have been left behind. But beware of 
leaving them too long. 

Some Small Helps 

Ironing is, when all is said, tedious work, and trying. 
But it may be made less so by a few simple expedients. 
One is the floor-cushion before mentioned. Make a flat 
pad of excelsior, three inches thick, and big enough to 
stand comfortably upon. Another is the knee-board— 
three feet long, thin and light—which may be held on the 
lap, thus making it possible to sit while ironing small 
things such as napkins, handkerchiefs, and collars. An¬ 
other—this for table-linen—is the roller. Get a big card¬ 
board mailing-tube as long as a folded table-cloth is wide. 
Fasten a narrow ribbon inside the tube so a yard hangs 
out of each end. Then, when the freshly ironed cloth 
lies long and white, instead of folding it, roll it up about 
the tube, keeping it straight and smooth. Tie down the 
end with the ribbon, cross the strings, pass them around 
the roll, and tie on the other side. Thus the cloth keeps 
its unmarred smoothness, yet is easy to handle, and easier 
still to store in the closet. 





Chapter SIX 

Cleaning of Clnna, Class, 

anli i$letal 

T HE woman, “ mistress of herself though 
china fall,” is a rare personage. One at 
least among the fathers of the church laid 
it down as incontrovertible that a woman 
needed to be sustained by the grace of God 
as much when she broke a cherished plate as when she 
lost a cherished child—the difference was, she did not 
need quite so much of the grace in the first case as the 
last. Wherefore it is the part of pleasure, as well as of 
wisdom, to learn all that may be taught in regard to the 
care and keeping of treasures breakable and tarnishable. 

Washing Glass 

“ If it were done, when it were done, then ’twere well 
'twere done quickly,” is the precept for washing all sorts 
of fine glass—cut-glass especially. Standing in water, 
no matter how clear, robs the cutting of lustre, and puts 
it almost on a level with pressed glass. Still, one must 
make haste slowly. Begin the haste some time before 
the beginning of washing. No matter if there is but a 
single bowl, wash it apart from everything else, and in 
perfectly clean water. If the bowl, or dish, or saucer is 
caked and sticky inside from standing after use, fill it 

99 


L.ofC. 


IOO 


Household Economy [Chapter 


with blood-warm soda-water, and shake it vigorously for 
a minute, then repeat until the glass begins to show 
clear. 

With any very fine or frangible glass, as cut-glass, 
cameo-glass, iridescent and Bohemian ware, especially 
pieces that have slender stems, or necks, or handles, set 
the pieces securely in a broad, shallow tray, covered with 
a double cloth, soft and clean, and place the tray upon 
the table at the right hand of the dish-pan. If the sink 
is some way off, set a basin for rinsings in front of the 
pan, and a pitcher of moderately hot water between the 
basin and the tray of soiled glass. An agate-ware pan 
not too small is best. Fold a soft, wide clean towel in 
four, and lay it at the bottom of the pan. Then pour in 
water, hot and cold. Half-a-gallon strictly boiling water 
to three quarts of cold gives about the right temperature. 
Put a tablespoonful of ammonia to the gallon. Use also 
a little white soap. Never let yellow soap touch glass of 
any sort—the resin in it makes a cloudy dull surface. 

Put in the glass, a piece at a time; thus alone is one in¬ 
sured against chipping or cracking. Have a clean soft 
wash-cloth, also a very soft brush. Wash the glass 
quickly, using the brush on all the cutting, then pass it 
through a pan of rinsing water. The rinse-water needs 
to be a little hotter—one-half fully boiling, and the heat 
kept up by adding more boiling water from time to time. 
Do not keep the glass in it longer than a minute, wash 
it vigorously about, then turn upside down over the pan, 
and set, still upside down, upon a draining-board, covered, 
like the pan-bottoms, with a folded towel. Let it drain 
until the next piece is ready for the board, then take up 
and plunge in a deep box of fine sifted sawdust, either 
oak or white wood. No resinous or gummy wood gives 
dust fit to use. If the dust is hot, all the better. It 
should be kept in a clean bag, and hung over the stove, 
or laid inside a warm oven some little time before it is 



six] Cfjtna, (§lass anti JHetal 


IOI 


wanted. After use, it must be dried, bagged, and put 
away for next time. The sort known as “ jewellers’ saw¬ 
dust ” is always safe. The best jewellers use it for drying 
fine metal-work after it is washed and polished. Take the 
glass out of the sawdust, brush with a very soft thick 
brush, and polish with a clean soft cloth. If there is no 
sawdust-box, wipe and polish after a few minutes’ drain¬ 
ing. Glass must by no means be allowed to get cold 
while damp. Use dry towels all the time—wiping with 
a wet towel is worse than no wiping. Do not use towels 
either conspicuously new or old. New ones are too hard 
and wiry to take up every bit of moisture; old ones shed 
lint, leaving their mark wherever they touch. The very 
best linen-crash, specially softened by several washings 
and bleachings, and kept solely for glass, is the thing to 
use. 

Care of Decanters 

To clean decanters and claret-jugs, if they are not finely 
cut, drop half-a-dozen buckshot inside, with half a pint 
of warm soda-water, and shake vigorously. If the de¬ 
canters are much crusted, fill with soda-water to the stop¬ 
pers, and let stand six hours. This will remove the crust, 
but must be followed by a little vinegar, shaken well 
around. Fragile, deeply cut bottles must be cleaned 
with alcohol and coarse brown paper. Cut half-a-dozen 
squares, three inches across, from the stiffest, roughest 
paper. Fold them lightly, and crowd them down the 
bottle-neck, then pour in half-a-cup of alcohol, put in the 
stopper and shake hard, holding the bottle sidewise, and 
shaking it round and round. Pour off the alcohol—it 
can be used again—fill with clear water, half-boiling heat, 
shake hard, let stand a few minutes, then shake and wash 
as directed. 

If milk, cream, custard, ice-cream, or any of the fancy 
gelatine desserts, have been served in cut-glass, take par- 




102 


Household Economy [Chapter 


ticular pains that none goes into the washing-water. 
Rinse such things off first in cold water—poured in, 
shaken well round and emptied, then in blood-warm wa¬ 
ter, and in still a third water a little hotter, if the inner 
surface is cloudy or sticky. All the things enumerated, 
if once well washed into the fine lines of the cutting, are 
nearly impossible to get out, and, aside from their own 
dimming, gradually take to themselves other fine grimy 
particles until they half-destroy the beauty of the glass. 
In washing soda-rinsed pieces, take them up firmly, shake 
quickly, so as to set the soaking-water swirling, and 
empty it into the slop-basin or sink, taking care no drop 
goes into the pan. With hot-water faucets, and big gen¬ 
erous sinks, there is a great temptation to wash all sorts 
of glass in the running stream. Resist it valiantly. Such 
washing invites disaster. It is wholly impossible to reg¬ 
ulate the temperature of such a hot stream, and nothing 
is so apt to break a big costly piece of cut-glass as raising 
the temperature of one part a few degrees higher than 
that of another. The cost of one such piece will pay 
three times over for all the special appliances here 
directed. 

How to Polish Glass 

Once a year polish all sorts of fine glass this way: Sift 
some powdered French whiting through fine silk gauze, 
to make sure there shall be no coarse particles, put the 
siftings into a fresh gauze-bag, turn the glass, freshly 
washed, upside down upon a cloth-covered table, and dust 
it thickly with the whiting. When the last piece is 
dusted, begin on the first, and, with a soft clean cloth, 
rub the whiting off. In the cuttings brush it out with 
a very thick soft brush. Hold the glass with a cloth while 
brushing; never touch it with the bare hand in either 
wiping or polishing. Do not bear hard upon thin bub¬ 
ble-like pieces; they are almost sure to crush under a 



Si *] Cljtna, dMass anti JHetal 


103 


heavy hand. As each piece is polished, wipe it all over 
with a perfectly clean cloth, and set away. In setting 
away, be sure no piece touches another at the side. Very 
small things, as nappies and salts, may be lightly piled, 
but those of any weight should stand separate. 

Plain and Decorated Glass 

Pressed glass is so cheap, so plenty, and so pretty, there 
is no excuse for even the humblest household’s lacking 
a full supply. Thin tumblers, nappies, bowls, pitchers, 
water-sets, and so on, may have their usefulness pro¬ 
longed if treated as directed for lamp-chimneys. (See 
Chapter on Lighting.) They need, further, to be well 
washed in hot soap-suds—not yellow soap-suds—rinsed, 
dried with clean soft towels, taking care to leave no lint, 
then to cool separately, and be set level in putting away. 
A glass or pitcher canted is almost certainly a glass or 
pitcher broken. Plain clear glass well kept is much 
handsomer than imitations of cut-glass. But, if one has 
a taste for the cut patterns, remember to wash them 
out with a stiff brush at least once a month; only thus is 
soap and dust removed from the deeps of the pattern. 
In patterns, those that are bold are better than elaborately 
fine ones. Use soda-water for the brushing out, and rinse 
after it until the glass does not feel slick. Dry with tow¬ 
els soft enough to crowd down into the crevices, and, 
once or twice a year, polish with sifted whiting, not dusted 
over, but rubbed on with a swab of absorbent cotton tied 
loosely in soft old silk. 

Frosted glass needs especial care. The rough surface 
may easily become unsanitary, particularly if it is used for 
milk or porridge. Wash it weekly with a stiff brush, and 
either soda or ammonia in the water. Rinse and dry. 
Occasionally such glass is helped by putting it in cold 
water, so it is entirely covered, and bringing the water 




104 


Household Economy [Chapter 


gradually to a boil. A pitcher too small to have the hand 
go down inside should be well mopped out, taking care 
to scrub the whole interior surface. Clear glass is its 
own inspector, but that which is by nature clouded or 
coloured must be watched vigilantly. 

Gilt glass, either Bohemian or imitation, must be very 
quickly washed in ammonia and water, dried gently, and 
polished sparingly. No matter how careful the handling, 
the gilt will wear more or less. Rare Venetian glass in 
gold and delicate colours should be washed inside with 
ammonia and water and a fine linen cloth, and cleaned 
outside with bits of the softest white silk, first with one 
dipped in alcohol, then rubbed with a dry one, and, after 
that, polished with a third cloth just touched with the 
finest sifted whiting. 

Washing China 

A big high-faucetted sink justifies rinsing well-scraped 
things in the running streams, but they should be washed 
in a roomy dish-pan three-parts full of hot suds. Rinsing 
under the faucets before washing, as well as after, keeps 
the dish-water proper, clean. Whenever it gets dirty 
enough to show floating cakes on top, empty it. Never 
rub soap of any sort, and especially scouring-soap, di¬ 
rectly on patterned ware. Soap is particularly ruinous 
to gilt, and, though it does not greatly affect well-fired 
colours, it sticks so it is very hard to get off. Make the 
suds fairly strong, and add more soap as needed. A mop 
is best in some hands, a soft dish-cloth in others. 
Whatever is used in the washing, the most rigorous 
cleanliness cannot be too much insisted on. The great 
drawback to mop-use, indeed, is that it requires such 
nice care to keep mops wholly clean. Either mop or 
cloth needs to be well washed in clean hot soap-suds, 
rinsed, and hung to dry and air, after each using. Neither 




s^] Cfrina, ant? ffiletal i°s 

should be used too long. The minute a cloth begins to 
fur, a mop to rag, throw it away. 

The rinse-water should be something hotter than the 
washing-water, but beware passing china, or, indeed, any 
sort of ware from cool or even tepid water into hot, or 
vice versa. It may not break outright the first time, but 
it will lose something of temper, and soon show chips or 
cracked glaze. Cracked glaze has another root—piling 
hot plates or platters one in the other after wiping. 
Every piece should be allowed to get almost cool before 
another is set in it. 

Few things are more hazardous, or more apt to ruin 
good ware, than rinsing with both hot and cold water 
running. Neither hot nor cold alone will do damage. 
It is the alternation that is perilous. Heat expands clay 
—very much less than metal, to be sure—but still enough 
to disturb the arrangement of particles. The faintest 
swelling underneath the glaze will destroy the surface. 
When glaze cracks badly, throw away the dish at once. 
Such cracks gather to themselves part of whatever goes 
in the dish, and hold it past washing away. But they do 
not hold these particles so firmly that hot liquids, or, 
more particularly, hot grease, may not seep in and force 
them out. Thus the dish may poison what was pre¬ 
eminently wholesome. Ptomaines come from stale ani¬ 
mal and vegetable matter. A crack half an inch long 
may breed enough of them to kill a strong man. 

Drain dishes well after rinsing, but do not let them dry. 
They will never feel clean. Neither will they feel clean if 
the rinse-water is so hot they dry themselves almost the 
moment they are out of it. Hot things can be wiped much 
easier than cold ones; they also feel and smell better. A 
perfectly washed piece of ware has no perceptible smell 
of dish-water. Such washing is impossible without a 
clean pan, good soap, plenty of water, and a great plenty 
of dry clean towels. 



io6 


Household Economy [Chapter 


For washing egg-shell or other very fine china, put a 
folded towel in the bottom of the pan as directed for 
glass. The use of it is to save breakage, both in turning 
about or by accidental dropping. Put in only what the 
pan will hold comfortably; wash, rinse, drain, and wipe, 
working quickly. Do not leave fine china soaking in the 
water. Add fresh hot water as needed, or fill the pan 
anew. In clearing a table, take the things that are not 
greasy first, as cups, fruit, and cereal plates. All the 
glass must be washed before china, and set away to air 
and cool. Set away likewise the first washing of china 
before beginning upon greasy and heavy things. 

As to Knives 

Whoever has two sizes of knives needs also two sizes 
of knife-pitcher. A knife-pitcher is a tin vessel stout and 
squat, specially made and provided to save knife-handles 
from the wreck and ruin of hot dish-water. Any sort of 
knife-handle, from wood or horn to pearl and beaten gold, 
must be kept from soaking, if it is not to part company 
with its blade. The fact goes far to explain—almost, in¬ 
deed, to justify—the prevalence of the so-called silver 
knives all in a piece, although they are among the heaviest 
and clumsiest bits of table-furnishing. 

Gather up the knives early in the dish-washing fray, 
wipe off the blades with crumpled paper, then stand the 
bunch in a pitcher of proper height, pour very hot water 
over the blades—be sure not to pour it also over the 
handles—add a little soda-water, and let stand till every¬ 
thing else is done. Wash singly and quickly through 
clean suds, taking care that no dirt is left at the join of 
handle and blade. Rinse in lukewarm water, and dry 
while warm. This unless there are spots on blade or 
handle. Spots on ivory should be rubbed out with 
tripoli, mixed in sweet oil, and a clean flannel. Mother- 




s«] CJntta, #lassi auto jffetal 


107 


of-pearl seldom spots, but may be stained by fruit-juice 
or any acid running down from the blade. Wash very 
clean, then rub lightly and quickly with a little sifted 
whiting’ wet with alcohol. Wash clean after the rubbing, 
and, when dry, polish with dry whiting and a flannel or 
silk cloth. 

To clean steel knife-blades easily and quickly, cut a 
good-sized potato in two, dip the cut surface in bath- 
brick or powdered rotten-stone, lay the knife-blade flat 
upon the table, and rub the spotted surface hard with the 
potato. In a minute at farthest it should be bright. 
Wipe dry, wash, dry again, and polish with a little dry 
bath-brick. 

Silver knives stained with egg or vegetables are best 
cleaned by wetting, dipping in fine salt, and rubbing with 
a wet cloth. To polish such knives and keep them 
bright, rub them fortnightly with whiting, and afterward 
with a soft clean flannel. Use helps amazingly to keep 
such cutlery in the best order, but spare knives will take 
no harm if they are washed thoroughly, rubbed clean, 
wrapped separately in soft white paper, and put away in 
a tight box. Silver chests and leather cellarettes are 
handsome, and excellent things to have, but the plain 
tight box, dark and trig, is better for preventing tarnish 
than all their bedizenment of shaped trays and velvet rests. 

Carving-knives and forks need to be very well washed, 
then to have a cloth over the point of a skewer run all 
round the join. If they have horn handles, the same 
skewer treatment should be applied to the horn ridges, 
or else the ridges should be washed out with ammonia and 
water and a very stiff brush—brushing with the grain of 
the horn. It goes without saying that carving-knives 
must be razor-edged. To insure that, first buy good 
steel, no matter what the mounting; then, once a year, 
have the blade properly ground. In between keep it 
sharp and true by help of a long whetstone such as is 




io8 Household Economy [Chapter 


used on mowing-scythes. It can be bought in any big 
hardware-store, should not cost over a quarter, and will 
last a lifetime. 

Silver—Keeping and Cleaning 

Big pieces of silver—as baskets, trays, loving-cups, 
centre-pieces—when not on show should have each its 
special Canton-flannel bag, made with the furry side in, 
and furnished with secure drawing-tapes at top. Put the 
vessel in the bag after cleaning it, draw the strings tight, 
then store in its case, if it has such a thing, otherwise upon 
its shelf in the plate-closet or safe. If there is fine chas¬ 
ing or hammered work outside, after the vessel is in the 
bag, pack jewellers’ cotton securely all round it. In case 
of very fine work, too delicate to bear much cleaning, 
pack jewellers’ cotton outside and in, then wrap well in 
paraffin-paper, twisting the ends securely, put in the bag, 
draw the strings tight, tie them, then tie the ends about 
the bag-mouth below the drawing. Gas—either sul¬ 
phuretted hydrogen, or coal gas, or illuminating gas—is 
the most active agent in tarnishing silver, and such pack¬ 
ing comes near to preventing gases of any sort from 
touching its surface. 

Wash silver in hot suds made from good white soap, 
with a little ammonia added, and rinse in water as hot 
as the hand can bear. Wipe with clean dry towels. 
Change the towel as soon as it is damp. Wash all the 
silver at once, after glass and china are out of the way. 
When the last piece is wiped dry, begin on the first, and 
rub it quickly over with a wash-leather or piece of clean 
Canton flannel. This brightens it amazingly. Silver so 
treated every day will not require to be rubbed and pol¬ 
ished oftener than once a year. 

In washing silver lay aside tarnished bits for special 
treatment. Egg-stains are removable with wet salt, or 





si *] Cfnna, #lass anti Jttetal >°9 


a paste of ammonia and whiting. The black marks which 
spoons gather from contact with certain green vegetables 
sometimes yield to a rubbing with alcohol. If they are 
obstinate, add a little whiting, and rub very hard. But 
in rubbing silver, especially small silver, take care not to 
bear so hard as to spoil the shape. 

Never beat up anything, not even a single egg, with a 
silver spoon. Wooden, tin, and iron spoons are so cheap, 
it is vandalism of the first water to put silver to kitchen 
uses. Bear the same sort of conscience toward silver 
forks; they are out of place in dishing meat, pricking pies, 
or marking crust. Every kitchen should have its special 
steel forks for such purposes, just as it has special spoons. 
There should be china or triple-plated spoons of several 
sizes for measuring things like lemon-juice, tarragon, 
mustard, or onion-juice, which canker a tin or pewter 
spoon. Silver-plated things are, indeed, so cheap and 
good, they are almost indispensable in the kitchen. They 
should not be used too long; after the plating wears ap¬ 
preciably, throw them away. 

Take a day for cleaning silver; if possible, a bright day, 
and work where there is a good natural light. Silver sur¬ 
faces do not show true by artificial light; that is to say, 
one cannot always tell if canker and tarnish have come 
away leaving no mark. Clear off a roomy table, and 
cover the top of it with a thick cloth, folded. Wash the 
silver upon another table, using scalding-hot white soap¬ 
suds, with plenty of ammonia, rinsing in hotter water, 
and drying lightly with soft cloths. Set the pieces as 
wiped upon the rubbing-table in orderly array. Keep 
small things—forks, spoons, and so on—in sets. Count 
the sets as they are taken out; every case should be plainly 
marked outside with the number it holds, whether the 
set be full or broken. Keep cases and wrappings handy, 
so the cleaned silver may be promptly put away. 

Provide at least a pint of thrice-sifted French whiting, 




no 


Household Economy [Chapter 


a bottle of alcohol, two clean brushes—one hard, one soft 
—jewellers’ cotton, absorbent cotton, silk and flannel 
cloths in plenty, several pieces of wash-leather, and a small 
bottle of diluted oxalic acid. (See Chapter on Disin¬ 
fectants.) Have in addition two or three shallow saucers, 
a small bag of net or gauze, and a bottle of sweet oil. 

Begin with the smallest things, such as coffee-spoons 
and oyster-forks. Look them over for stains; if none are 
found, dip a flannel in a saucer of whiting, then in alcohol, 
and rub all the set quickly. Next rub them hard with a 
clean cloth, either silk or flannel, polish with a leather, 
and slip into the case. If there are stains, mix whiting 
well through the saucer of alcohol, cover the stain with 
the wet stuff, let it dry, then rub off and polish. If the 
stain is still visible, wet it quickly with oxalic acid, wash 
off almost instantly, and rub with whiting and alcohol. 
Wash again after the rubbing, and polish with a leather. 
Oxalic acid is a poison, so no trace of it must be left. If 
it takes off the stain, but leaves a dull mark behind, wet 
a flannel in sweet oil, sprinkle a little dry whiting over it, 
and rub the dull place hard. Then wipe with a clean cloth 
wet in alcohol, rub dry, and polish. 

Go through the whole tale of spoons, forks, knives, 
pie, and sugar-shovels, and all sorts of silver tongs. 
Where there is much ornamental work, cover it with a 
paste of whiting and alcohol, let it dry on, then rub or 
brush off, and polish with a flannel and dry whiting, with 
a touch of leather at the last. Put everything away as it 
is cleaned, and be sure the numbers correspond with those 
taken out. When it comes to the big things, go over 
them one after the other with whiting and alcohol, mixed 
a little thicker than cream, covering every inch of visible 
surface, especially under handles and around knobs. Let 
the whiting dry; then with the stiff brush remove it from 
the chased work, and with the soft one from plain spaces. 
After the brushing, rub quickly rather than hard, turning 




si *i Cfnna, anli jffetal 


hi 


things round and round, so as to get over the whole sur¬ 
face in a short time. If any whiting sticks in the lines, 
let it dry a little longer, then brush very hard. Finish 
by rubbing with the merest suspicion of dry whiting 
dusted on through the gauze-bag, and removed with a 
flannel. Rub over smooth surfaces with a leather, but 
leave the patterns as they stand. This cleaning gives the 
“ butler’s finish,” so much softer and more desirable than 
the glaring, staring span-new look. 

Cleaning Brass and Iron 

To clean brasses quickly and economically, rub them 
well with vinegar and salt, or oxalic acid and salt; wash 
immediately after the rubbing, and polish with tripoli and 
sweet oil. Unless the acid is washed off, the thing will 
tarnish so quickly, its last estate will be worse than its 
first. Copper kettles and sauce-pans, brass andirons, 
fenders, candlesticks, and trays, are best cleaned with 
vinegar and salt. Cooking vessels in constant use need 
only to be well washed afterward. Things for show—- 
even pots and pans—need the oil-polishing, which gives 
a deep rich yellow lustre, good for six months. Oxalic 
acid and salt is the thing for furniture-brasses; if it touches 
the wood around it only improves the tone. Wipe the 
brasses well with a wet cloth, and polish thoroughly with 
oil and tripoli. Sometimes powdered rotten-stone does 
better than tripoli. Rub after using either with a dry 
cloth or leather, until there is no trace of oil. No matter 
what sort of brass is to be cleaned, it must first be freed 
completely from grease, caked dirt, and grime. Wash 
with strong ammonia-suds, rinse, and dry before begin¬ 
ning with the acid and salt. 

The best treatment for wrought-iron or wrought-steel, 
which both have a knack of growing grey, lustreless, and 
ill-looking, is to first wash it very clean with a stiff brush 






11 2 


Household Economy [Chapter 


and ammonia soap-suds, rinse well, dry—by heat, if pos¬ 
sible—then oil plentifully with sweet oil, and dust thickly 
with powdered quicklime. Let the lime stay on two 
days, then brush it off with a clean very stiff brush. Pol¬ 
ish with a softer brush, and rub with cloths until the lustre 
comes out. This ought to give the colour of iron in daily 
use, which is nearly the most beautiful in the whole range 
of metals. By leaving the lime on, iron and steel may 
be kept from rust almost indefinitely. 

Before wetting any sort of bric-a-brac, and especially 
bronzes, remove all the dust possible. The less dust 
water finds about fine lines and crannies, the less it can 
leave there. After dusting, wash well in strong white 
soap-suds and ammonia, rinse clean, polish with just a 
suspicion of oil and rotten-stone, and rub off afterward 
every trace of the oil. Never let acid touch a bronze 
surface, unless one wishes to eat and pit it for antique 
effects. 



Mending 


Broken glass, china, bric-a-brac, and picture-frames, 
not to name casts, require each a different cement—in 
fact, several different cements. Glass may be beautifully 
mended, to look at, but seldom so as to be safely used. 
For clear glass, the best cement is isinglass dissolved in 
gin. Put two ounces of isinglass in a clean wide-mouthed 
bottle, add half-a-pint of gin, and set in the sun until dis¬ 
solved. Shake well every day, and before using strain 
through double lawn, squeezing very lightly. 

Spread a white cloth over the mending-table, and sup¬ 
ply it with plenty of clean linen-rags, strong rubber-bands, 
and narrow white tape, also a basin of tepid water and 
a clean soft towel. Wash the broken glass very clean, 
especially along the break, but take care not to chip it 
further. Wet both broken edges well with the glue, 



Six ) Cfjtna, #lass anti jftetal ”3 

using a cameFs-hair pencil. Fit the break to a nicety, 
then slip on rubber-bands lengthwise, crosswise—every 
way they will hold. If they will not hold true, as upon 
a stemmed thing, a vase, or jug, or scent-bottle, string 
half-a-dozen bands of the same size and strength upon a 
bit of tape, and tie the tape about neck or base before 
beginning the gluing. After the parts are joined, slip 
another tape through the same bands, and tie it up above 
the fracture; thus, with all their strength, the bands pull 
the break together. The bands can be used thus on casts 
or china; in fact, to hold together anything mendable. 
In glass-mending, the greater the pressure the better, if 
only it stops short of the breaking-point. Properly 
made, the isinglass cement is as clear as water. When 
the pieces fit true one on the other, the break should be 
hardly visible, if the pressure has been great enough to 
force out the tiny air-bubbles, which otherwise refract 
the light, and make the line of cleavage distressingly ap¬ 
parent. Mended glass may be used to hold dry things, 
as rose-leaves, sachet, and violet-powder, even candies 
and fruits. But it will not bear to have any sort of liquid 
left standing in it, nor to be washed beyond a quick 
rinsing in tepid water. In wiping it always use a very 
soft towel, and pat the vessel dry, with due regard for 
its infirmities. 

Mending Lamps: Mend a lamp loose in the collar 
with sifted plaster of Paris, mixed to a very soft paste 
with beaten white of egg. Have everything ready be¬ 
fore wetting up the plaster, and work quickly so it may 
set in place. With several lamps to mend, wet only 
enough plaster for one at a time. It takes less than five 
minutes to set, and is utterly worthless if one tries work¬ 
ing it over. Metal-work, apart from the glass, needs the 
soldering-iron. Dust the break well with powdered 
rosin, tie the parts firmly together, lay the stick of solder 
above the break, and fetch the iron down on it lightly 




H4 


Household Economy [Chapter 


but firmly. When the solder cools, remove the melted 
rosin with a cloth dipped in alcohol. 

A Sand-Box : Since breakables have so malicious a 
knack of fracturing themselves in such fashion they can¬ 
not possibly stand upright, one needs a sand-box. It is 
only a box of handy size with eight inches of clean coars- 
ish sand in the bottom. Along with it there should be 
some small leaden weights with rings cast in them, run¬ 
ning from an ounce to a quarter-pound. Two of each 
weight are needed. In use, tapes are tied in the rings, 
and the pair of weights swung outside the edges of the 
box, so as to press in place the upper part of a broken 
thing to which the tapes have been fastened. 

Set broken platters on edge in the sand-box, with the 
break up. The sand will hold them firm, and the broken 
bit can be slapped on. It is the same with plates and 
saucers. None of these commonly requires weighting. 
But very fine pieces, where an invisible seam is wanted, 
should be held firm until partly set, then have the pair 
of heaviest weights accurately balanced across the broken 
piece. The weights are also very useful to prop and stay 
top-heavy things, and balance them so they shall not get 
out of kilter. A cup broken in half, as is so common 
with cups, can have the tape passed around it, crossing 
inside the handle, then be set firmly in the sand, face down, 
and held by the hanging weights pulling one against the 
other. 

The most durable cement for china is pure white lead, 
ground in linseed-oil, so thick it will barely spread 
smoothly with a knife. Given time enough to harden— 
some three months—it makes a seam practically inde¬ 
structible. The objection to it is that it always shows in 
a staring white line. A better cement for fine china is 
white of egg and plaster. Sift the plaster three times, 
and tie a generous pinch of it loosely in mosquito-netting. 
Then beat the egg until it will stick to the platter. Have 
the broken edges very clean, cover both with the beaten 





six] Cfntta, (glass anti jftetal 


”5 


egg, dust well with the plaster, fit together at once, tie, 
using rubber-bands if possible, wrap loosely in very soft 
tissue-paper, and bury head and ears in the sand-box, tak¬ 
ing care that the break lies so the weight of the sand will 
hold it together. Leave in the box twenty-four hours. 
After a week the superfluous plaster may be gently 
scraped away. 

This answers for white and light-grounded wares. 
Deep coloured pieces had better be mended with gin and 
isinglass of double strength. Sometimes a little trans¬ 
parent colour, dissolved in alcohol, may be stirred 
through the cement with advantage. There are half-a- 
dozen cements on the market, each of which in competent 
hands will do fair work, but ware of their mending must 
be kept out of hot water—advertisements to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

Here lies the whole art and mystery of successful mend¬ 
ing: Have the broken edges clean, be sure all the bits 
have been saved, know where each of them belongs be¬ 
fore beginning work. Very tiny bits and splinters had 
better be cemented in place a day before the main work 
begins. If only one has all the pieces, by a little deft 
pains the most hopeless wreck may be made to look as 
good as new. 

Beside the bowl of water and towel, keep a cup of clear 
turpentine and another of alcohol on the mending-table, 
also special rags for wiping the fingers. Never try to 
work with sticky fingers, nor persist in a mend that is on 
its face a failure. Better, far better, try all over again. 
Tepid water will remove any of the plaster cements, and 
alcohol or turpentine the others. Soak the broken bits 
until the cement is soft, then wash clean, and begin over. 

Set broken casts in the sand-box, mend with egg and 
plaster mixed, and, when dry, go over the break with 
plaster and water about as thick as cream. Wash dusty 
or stained casts well in tepid soap-suds, and whiten them 
all over with plaster of the same thickness. 



Chapter SEVEN 

keeping Cjrings 

B AD buying is the root of extravagance, but 
bad keeping turns the extravagance into waste 
little short of criminal. No matter how much 
money there may be, one should study to make 
the most and best of all it buys. The only way 
to do this is to take the very best care of everything from 
the time it comes to hand until it is consumed. 

Meats—Salt and Fresh 

The out-door fresh-air closet (see Chapter on Closets) 
is an excellent place to keep every sort of dry salt meat, 
as hams, bacon, sausage, dried beef, and smoked tongue. 
Fasten a stout board just below the closet roof, and screw 
into it half-a-dozen stout hooks. From these hang what¬ 
ever is to be kept, but first wrap the meat in soft white 
paper, with black pepper sprinkled well over it, then slip 
it in a paper-bag, big enough and stout enough to hold 
without breaking. Tie the bag-mouth tight, but do not 
crumple the rest of it more than can be helped. Make a 
loop of the tie-string to go over the hook. In using the 
meat, after cutting slices, pack a bit of white water-proof 
grocers’ paper over the cut surface, before it goes back 
into the bag. This prevents the escape of juice through 
the cut, and, further, saves the meat from growing strong, 
even rancid, along the cut. 

Next to the fresh-air closet comes the upper part of 

116 



keeping Cfnttgs ^ 


an airy cellar without furnace heat. If vegetable bins are 
in the cellar, hang the meat as far from them as possible. 
Further, put a wrapping of brown paper over the white 
inside the bag. All sorts of salt meat keep best in the 
dark—partly because there they are less subject to attack 
by insects, and partly because, in some mysterious fash¬ 
ion, strong light affects the flavour and solidity. 

Keep pickled meats, as corned beef, salt pork, and salt 
fish, well down in the brine, under an opaque, well- 
weighted cover. Under the brine they keep sound and 
wholesome, but if even a corner is left standing above it, 
serious harm may come of it. If, accidentally, a piece of 
pickled meat is left thus exposed, either throw it away 
or cut off the part exposed. If the smell of pickled meat 
changes sensibly after beginning to use it, drain off the 
brine, boil it, skim it well, put in a double handful of 
extra salt, and pour back into the barrel boiling hot. If 
the smell is sour and offensive, take out meat as well as 
brine, wash it well in clear hot water, wash and scald the 
barrel, then rinse it lightly with clear lime-water (See 
Chapter on Disinfectants), pour out the lime-water, pack 
down the meat, and cover with boiling brine. But meat 
of good brands will nearly always keep, especially if put 
into a dry airy place, neither hot nor cold. Contrariwise, 
a furnace-cellar will spoil almost any sort of provisions 
not hermetically sealed. Even sealed ones are apt to 
suffer if placed where they are alternately very hot and 
very cold. 

Indeed, it is distinctly unsanitary to keep much of the 
food supply in a cellar beneath the dwelling. Odours, 
exhalations, emanations, there will be in spite of the ut¬ 
most precaution, the nicest care. Where cellarage is 
imperative, it is much better to have the cellar underneath 
a special building, say a laundry, either wholly detached 
or set off at one side or end of the kitchen. Such a cellar 
should be walled and ventilated wholly apart from the 



Ii8 


Household Economy [Chapter 


dwelling. No pipes should run into or out of it, to con¬ 
nect with the main building, nor should the windows be 
so placed that air from them goes into the house. 

In cold, or even cool weather, mutton, venison, and 
game can be hung in such a cellar for six weeks or two 
months. Fowls are best killed as wanted in hot weather 
or cold. Still, if bought killed in cold weather, they keep 
fairly for several days. This if they are undrawn, un¬ 
plucked, and know not cold storage. Nothing from cold 
storage keeps well outside a regular refrigerator—nor in 
it very long. 

Cuts of fresh meat, even steaks and chops, should be 
hung up rather than laid upon platters. The platter sur¬ 
face, or even a hard shelf surface, gathers some degree of 
moisture from the air, and with it the potentiality of 
taints. If meat is bought frozen, cook it as soon as pos¬ 
sible. Thawing out even half-an-hour before cooking 
means loss of flavour and deterioration of texture. 

People living southerly, where summers are long and 
hot and ice a costly luxury, may find in a dry well, or 
cistern properly cemented inside, a very present house¬ 
hold help. A big cistern can have a step-ladder and 
shelves around the sides. But it is much easier and less 
costly to keep things at the ends of a rope, a stout un¬ 
frayed one, running over a pulley set higher than the 
head. 

Fruit and Vegetables 

A cellar, dark, dry, well ventilated, where the winter 
temperature never goes higher than forty degrees nor 
lower than thirty-three, is the best place to keep winter 
vegetables. Turnips, potatoes, carrots, beets, and par¬ 
snips can be stored there—preferably in barrels laid upon 
the side, after heading up, with holes in both heads and 
around the bung. Barrelled apples also keep well in such 
a place. It should not have bins; they give harbourage 



Seven] keeping Cfnngs 


"9 


to dirt smells and taints. A smell, it should be under¬ 
stood, is kindly nature’s danger-signal of some condition 
that needs to be abated. 

If fine fruit, such as winter pears or choice apples, must 
be kept in such a cellar, wrap separately in tissue-paper, 
and set so as to barely miss touching upon a ventilated 
shelf. This may be either of inch-wide hard-wood slats, 
nailed a quarter-inch apart, or thin hard-wood board, with 
quarter-inch holes bored thickly all over it. Such 
shelves should be movable. In summer, when the fur¬ 
nace is out of commission, they may be swung upon ropes 
hung from hooks in the ceiling of the main cellar, and 
used to hold fruit and fresh perishable things. Swing 
them one above another, in sets of three, say ten inches 
apart. After filling them, tie a wide cheese-cloth sheet, 
one big enough to surround the shelves, up to the ceiling 
hook, then fasten it so as to inclose the whole set. This 
keeps out flies, gnats, and dust, while not preventing free 
access of air. 

Spread things such as green peas, string beans, spinach, 
and green vegetables generally, in a thin layer all over 
a shelf, first washing the vegetables very clean, and 
draining them fairly. Often one can buy from a huck¬ 
ster or market-man several days’ supply for what one 
would otherwise pay for a single dish. Do not wet either 
cauliflower or young cabbage. Put them on the highest 
shelf, first tying down the outside leaves with soft string. 
Water-proof paper may be tucked lightly over the cauli¬ 
flower curd, and save it from turning dark. Three hours 
before cooking heads thus kept, trim them, wash well, 
and put in cold water with just a suspicion of salt in it. 
If they are wilted, it will freshen them greatly. In a cool 
cellar, well covered and away from dust, cauliflower ought 
to keep a week, and cabbage two. Beans are unsafe after 
two or three days. Peas will keep a week, or, if they are 
of the big marrow-fat sorts and well filled, ten days. All 




I 20 


Household Economy [Chapter 


sorts of vegetables should be looked over every day, and 
those which show signs of mould or rot, removed, along 
with all those touching the mouldy spot. Once a week 
empty the shelves and wash well, finishing by a rinse with 
clear lime-water. (See Disinfectants.) 

Give each sort of vegetable a separate shelf. Espe¬ 
cially tomatoes. If frost find a crop of fully matured 
green tomatoes on the vines, they may be ripened through 
the next month, by plucking them carefully, each with 
an inch of stem, wrapping them in soft paper, and setting 
them separately upon cellar-shelves or upon trays— 
wooden trays—in a kitchen-closet. The warmer the 
place, the quicker the ripening. It must not, however, 
be too warm, or the tomatoes will rot very quickly. 

Radishes, lettuce, and celery are all ill to keep. All 
three require moisture, yet will not bear lying in water 
beyond a few hours. Radishes will keep crisp for two 
or three days if they are tied carefully in bunches of a 
dozen, and hung so their tap-roots can touch water, then 
set in a cool place. Something the same treatment will 
keep lettuce in fair condition. Set the heads separately, 
roots down, in shallow cups three parts full of water, 
cover each head with a sheet of paraffin-paper, and tie 
the paper well down round the cup. Keep cool and, if 
light strikes the cups, turn them around daily. Celery 
will keep for a day or two if each root is wrapped sep¬ 
arately in a moist clean cloth, then in a thick dry cloth, 
and set, stalks up, in a cool dark place—one just above 
the freezing-point is best. 

Refrigerators 

With a good refrigerator and plenty of ice, the problem 
of perishables is much simplified. Still, the best refrig¬ 
erator has its limitations. Porcelain-lined refrigerators 
are far and away the best, but even porcelain-lined ones 





Seven] 


keeping CJnngs 


I 2 I 


need a deal of keeping clean if they are to be thoroughly 
satisfactory. 

Do not set smelly cooked food in a refrigerator; that 
is, not unless the refrigerator can be given up to it. As 
few smells as possible is the first refrigerator command¬ 
ment. The second is like unto it. Never let the refrig¬ 
erator of itself breed a smell. This it will certainly do 
—an odour curiously compound of all imaginable stale¬ 
nesses—if it is not most carefully kept. It needs to be 
scoured out every week, to be scalded after the scouring 
with boiling-hot soda-water, and after that with clear 
hot water, then to be dried, and left open to free airs for 
at least three hours. 

The ice-chamber is for ice. Do not set dishes on it, 
nor pile it half full of raw things. Things in bottles se¬ 
curely corked, as milk, beer, and wine, will do no harm, 
but beware of breaking one. Beware, further, of the re¬ 
frigerator which provides drinking-water from the melt¬ 
ing ice. Such water is hardly fit even to throw away. 
Whatever is put round about the ice must be shielded 
from direct contact. Meat in particular is damaged by 
lying flat upon ice. It is a mistake to think it is safer 
next to the ice, unless there is a very insufficient supply. 
Cold air sinks—that is the thing which makes the refrig¬ 
erator possible. Air properly, or, rather, sufficiently, 
chilled makes the chamber underneath the ice as cold as 
the upper division, with the advantage of being, further, 
perfectly dry. 

In too many kitchens the refrigerator is turned into a 
sort of culinary savings-bank, or perhaps rag-bag is the 
better word. Any and all left-overs are popped into it 
and often left there, forgotten or overlooked, until they 
force themselves upon the attention by protesting smells. 




122 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Butter and Milk 

Butter in the tub should be kept in the pantry, or the 
dry cold cellar, or out-door fresh-air closet. (See Chap¬ 
ter on Closets.) To use it daintily at table, and especially 
to keep it daintily, mould a pound or so at a time into 
square individual pats, wrap each pat in a square of wa¬ 
ter-proof paper, dipping the paper lightly in cold water 
before folding it over the butter. Pack these little pats 
down securely in a covered dish—glass or earthen-ware 
—and place the dish on ice, or in the fresh-air closet if 
the weather is cold. At meal-times take out a pat for 
each person, and, after unwrapping, lay them upon a bed 
of cracked ice in a deepish dish. 

Milk keeps better, looks better, and tastes better from 
clean glass or fine thin china. Well-tinned new milk-pans 
and pails do no hurt; neither possibly does the market 
milk-can if it is kept properly clean and in good repair. 
But tin that has rubbed off, or got rough, or has rusty 
spots, will spoil the flavour and quality of the best milk 
ever strained. Milk will not keep unless properly cooled 
and kept from taints. (See Chapter on Four-Footed 
Friends.) If milk must be bought, try to get that which 
is bottled at the home dairy, and sold sealed under a 
guarantee. 

Keep the bottles tightly closed. Further, do not open 
a bottle in a space of tainted air, as, for instance, a refrig¬ 
erator half-full of cold vegetables. Take out the milk- 
bottle, close the refrigerator-door, and pour what milk 
is needed, then close the bottle tight, and set back. Of 
all food substances, milk is the easiest tainted. Meat 
comes next, and, after that, butter. 

Mixing new milk with old is hurtful to both. Milk 
that has stood a day or two will turn to delightful clabber 
if poured into a bowl and left to stand in a warm kitchen. 



Seven] 


keeping dungs 


123 


After it turns, it can be cooled, and served with bread 
and butter, strewing sugar over the surface, or adding 
fresh fruit, mashed and sweetened. This makes a famous 
dish for a child's tea, especially in summer. Or the clab¬ 
ber may be turned into cottage-cheese by pouring it into 
a double cheese-cloth bag, salting and peppering it 
lightly, and hanging it to drain. Take down, work a little 
butter through the curd, along with more seasoning if 
needed, mould into balls, and serve with brown bread, or 
spread thin upon toasted crackers, sprinkle with minced 
olives, gherkins, or capers, and serve as sandwiches at 
five-o'clock tea or even lunch. 

This same milk, mixed with twice its own bulk of 
fresher milk, would have soured the whole mass, or else 
given it a stale flavour. So a wise cook will proportion 
her milk requirements to the supply in hand—using more 
or less at each meal, according to what was used or left 
over from the one preceding. 

Cream keeps longer and easier than milk. It is said that 
new untainted cream, hermetically sealed as soon as prop¬ 
erly cool, will keep for at least two weeks without ster¬ 
ilizing. (See Four-Footed Friends.) But it must be 
kept even more carefully than milk from taints of every 
sort, also from light and alternations of temperature. 
Good, rich, pure cream, in clean air not warmer than forty 
degrees, should keep unsealed ten days if care is taken 
in the opening and closing the bottle. Every day put a 
fresh paper underneath the bottle-stopper, and wipe away 
all cream from the edge of the neck after each pouring 
out. 

Canned Goods 

As regards canned goods, the bubble reputation is a 
very real help. Packers who have achieved reputation 
are notoriously shy of sending out anything calculated to 
damage it—“swelled cans,” for instance; that is to say, 




124 


Household Economy [Chapter 


cans so imperfectly sealed that their contents ferment and 
bulge the can noticeably. These swelled cans unscrupu¬ 
lous dealers prick to let out the gas, then reheat, and re- 
seal. Such stuff always lacks flavour and nutrition even 
if it is not, as it may well be, unwholesome to a dangerous 
degree. Guard against buying it by looking well at the 
can-tops—taking, say, half-a-dozen at random from a case. 
If there is solder on a top anywhere but around the orig¬ 
inal ring of sealing, reject the goods, no matter what the 
brand. 

Only the very best brands of green vegetables should 
be bought. Even the best are apt to have a trace of 
either salicylic acid or boracic acid, which, while not pos¬ 
itively harmful in themselves, prevent digestion no less 
than fermentation. Cheap very green beans, peas, and 
so on are nearly always doctored with colour as well as 
preservative chemicals; hence are excellent things to let 
alone. Canned corn and canned tomatoes are generally 
safe, except in the case of swelled cans. There is some 
risk of lead-poisoning in very cheap tinned fruit, especially 
the more acid sorts, as peaches and plums. The fruit 
acid attacks the solder, also the very thin covering of tin 
on cheap tin-plate, and evolves from them various metallic 
salts, harmful to the stomach and by no means agreeable 
to the palate. 

With canned things bought in quantity—which is a 
very considerable saving—keep the bulk of them upon 
the shelves of the cold cellar. Bring up cans the day be¬ 
fore they are wanted, and always open them far enough 
ahead of time to let the contents air well. But never 
leave any sort of canned stuff in the can longer than a 
few minutes. Nine times in ten no harm might come of 
the leaving, yet the tenth time breed a poison. Preven¬ 
tion, which is so easy, is a million times better than cure. 
Airing canned things makes them taste and smell fresher, 
even those that are to be cooked. Always taste canned 




Seven] 


keeping Cfjtngs 


125 


stuff before seasoning, sweetening, or putting over the 
fire. Occasionally—very occasionally, it is true—there 
is a spoiled can, which, though it may look right, is far 
from tasting right. If there is an unnatural and some¬ 
what unpleasant acid-bitter taste, do not try to neutralise 
it with soda, and disguise it with salt or sugar, but throw 
the can promptly away. 

Nuts, Cheese, and Raisins 

Nuts, cheese, and raisins all keep best in an airy place, 
neither dry nor damp, and wholly free of artificial heat. 
If a big cheese is cut, rub the cut surface well with good 
butter, then wrap it in a clean cloth, with paper outside, 
and set under cover upon a swinging shelf close to a win¬ 
dow or ventilator. Keep fancy imported cheeses—Brie, 
Roquefort, Gorgonzola—well wrapped in tinfoil, with 
white paper over it, and under a glass cheese-cover. 
Leave raisins in their box, disturbing the layers as little 
as possible. Unless dried out, a box may last through a 
season, and the last cluster be as plump and tender as the 
first. Box-buying is very much cheaper than buying at 
retail. Indeed, where purse and pantry are big enough, 
all sorts of staple and fancy groceries should be bought 
thus in quantity. 

A light barrel, with the hoops nailed fast, then sawed 
in two, and cut down further to leave handles upon the 
resultant tubs, makes the very best sort of nut-holder. 
Especially for native nuts—scaly-barks, black walnuts, 
hazel-nuts, chestnuts, pea-nuts. Half-inch boards, sawed 
half-way from top to bottom so as to interlock, and 
sloped at the ends to fit the barrel slant, will divide a 
single barrel into four compartments for as many differ¬ 
ent nuts. Bore holes in the wooden handles, so the half¬ 
barrels can be swung up out of reach of rats and mice. 
A few half-inch holes in the bottom will help to keep the 



126 


Household Economy [Chapter 


nuts sound and sweet. Spread a thin cloth over the bot¬ 
tom before putting in the nuts. It will keep tiny nuts 
from choking the holes, and thus insure air. 

Finer nuts, as almonds, pecans, English walnuts, fil¬ 
berts, Brazil nuts, need exactly the same treatment. All 
the nut tribe will shrivel and grow rancid in too much 
heat, and become mouldy and rotten if kept too damp. 



Eggs are eggs—when they are not something else. 
The something else is most commonly what nobody wants 
to keep. On the surface, egg-keeping should be easy. 
It is, in fact, among the problems of preservation. Shells 
to the contrary notwithstanding, eggs take to themselves 
all sorts of taints. Nobody can dispute that who has 
wrestled with the athletic flavours of a limed egg, yet 
limed eggs are mild and mannerly beside some other sorts 
of eggs. 

Egg-shells are porous; indeed, they have several inches 
of pores to each single shell. Otherwise, they could not 
hatch; the forming chick must have air as soon as it has 
life. Where air can go in, other things can also go. 
Water or its equivalent, moisture, can likewise come out. 
Thus, to be kept well, an egg must be saved from 
evaporation. 

The best way to keep a superabundant egg-supply on 
to the times of scarcity is to either grease fresh eggs or 
varnish them lightly with water-glass—silicate of soda— 
then pack them down in cotton in shallow paper-boxes, 
only two layers in a box, and pile the boxes in a dry, airy, 
cool place. Turn them over every three days, to prevent 
settling. The cotton must be clean, and can be used over 
and over as long as it is kept so. If an egg spoils, and 
explodes, take out the whole boxful at once. Neither 
greasy nor varnished eggs will hatch unless the grease 



Seven] 


keeping Cfnugs 


127 


or varnish is thoroughly washed off. It is said chicks 
have been hatched from eggs kept two years under var¬ 
nish, with the varnish thus removed. Notwithstanding, 
setting eggs kept this way would be an exceedingly 
doubtful experiment. 

Keeping Bread and Cake 

Nothing baked can be well kept if it is not first well 
cooled. Things hot from the oven need to be set upon 
a soft folded cloth; any solid surface condenses the steam 
from them into water, and makes them heavy and sodden. 
Hence the importance of the bread-basket, with the 
doubled cloth inside. Hot loaves set to cool in it have 
the moisture taken up and dissipated as soon as it forms, 
thus leaving their crust crisp and appetising, and their 
crumb a light sponge. 

Afterward comes the bread-jar, or the bread-box. 
Choose the box, if choice is possible—the box of well- 
japanned tin, with trig, tight-fitting hasped cover and 
sound hinges. Line it inside with a length of good linen- 
crash, wide enough to reach all across the bottom, and 
long enough to cover a boxful of loaves, with room to 
tuck in over the edges. Have a length of narrower crash 
for the ends, long enough to go under the other, and 
more than reach the top both ways. See that these cloths 
are changed weekly, also that the bread-box is wiped out 
with a wet cloth, and well dried. Monthly it should be 
scalded, using a little dissolved soda in the water. Dry 
the box thoroughly after the scalding, and set in the sun 
or on a hot stove for a few minutes. Keep the top up 
while it heats, else the last estate will be worse than the 
first. But take care not to let it touch red-hot iron, on 
pain of melting the solder and spoiling the box. Lay in 
the cooled loaves, upside down. A little air underneath 
will not hurt, for all the double crash. If there is old 




128 


Household Economy [Chapter 


bread, set it on top of the new baking, so it may not get 
hopelessly stale. 

Toast surplus slices as soon as stale enough, and put 
away the toast in a clean tin-box. At need crisp the 
slices with a minute or so in the oven. Crumbs, both 
white and browned, should also be prepared thus as oc¬ 
casion serves, and kept always ready. 

Pound-cake—indeed, all professedly light cakes— 
should be kept in a cake-box very similar to the bread- 
box. It is more sightly and picturesque if it is round 
rather than square, but should have the same sort of re¬ 
movable lining, no matter what its shape. Even more 
than bread, cake requires to be cooled on a porous sur¬ 
face. It will assuredly be sad if it is either allowed to 
cool in the pan or turned out on a platter, or even a hard 
shelf-surface. Eight-double damask is none too thick for 
a big cake, which will take at least three hours to cool 
properly. 

Iced cake keeps longer than plain cake. All sorts of 
cake and bread stay fresh longer for keeping in a fresh-air 
closet. (See Closets.) In long-continued damp spells, 
or hot muggy weather, watch for the least sign of mould 
on cake, or, better still, prevent its appearance by heating 
the cake through, and letting it cool. Stale cake can be 
freshened by steaming an hour, then popping into a hot 
oven. But it is better to make it into some sort of pud¬ 
ding; there are several excellent ones for which stale cake 
is required. 

Heavy cakes, fruit-cake, rich nut-cake, and raised cake, 
full of seed and spices, should be cooled before coming 
out of the pan. With fruit-cake, cover the pan with a 
towel, and on top of that a folded blanket. This to make 
the cooling very gradual, as it adds to the richness and 
flavour of the cake, and helps its ripening. Really fine 
fruit-cake should not be cut under a month from baking. 
It will be better for standing two months. It should be 



keeping Cfjtngs 


129 


Seven] 


kept in a clean earthen jar or crock, with a tight cover, 
and wrapped in a clean cloth wet with brandy. Once a 
week put a little more brandy on the cloth. Put noth¬ 
ing else in the fruit-cake jar, and do not frost the cake 
until after it is well ripened. Properly made, and kept 
cool, with renewals of the brandy cloth once a month 
after the first two months, real black fruit-cake will keep 
from New Year to Christmas, and be all the better for 
keeping. 

Nut-cake and spice-cake also keep better in earthen¬ 
ware. If they are put in tin, open the box as rarely as 
possible, and keep the cloths inside tucked very snugly 
over the cake. Covering such cakes, also layer-cakes, 
well with water-proof paper with crumpled tissue-paper 
above it, keeps them fresh a good deal longer. Once a 
week everything in the cake-box ought to be lifted out, 
keeping the cake very closely covered the while, but wip¬ 
ing the box out, drying it well and airing it, and, if pos¬ 
sible, sunning it, for ten minutes. Thus the heavy cake 
stays moist and rich, but mould and mildew are kept afar. 

Sugar-cookies put, piping hot, into an earthen jar, 
lined with clean cloth, covered close, and kept covered 
twenty-four hours, will be much more crumbly and melt¬ 
ing than if allowed to cool in air. The use of the cloth 
inside is to take up the steam, which might otherwise 
trickle down, and make sodden the lower layers. 

Lard and Oil 

Bright new clean tin, unmarred and well soldered, is 
the thing for keeping lard. Stone or earthenware ab¬ 
sorbs more or less of grease. Besides, very hot lard may 
crack a stone-jar if it is poured rapidly into it; further, 
lard expands in freezing, the same as water, though not 
to the same degree. Where a year’s supply of lard is put 
up at once, a sweet wooden barrel is not to be despised. 





130 


Household Economy [Chapter 


The trouble with barrels is to get them hot-grease tight. 
Liquid lard, like molasses, will creep out through cracks 
water would never penetrate. Lard in bulk should be 
kept cool, clean, and closely covered. Lay a clean cloth 
underneath the cover, and, when the cover is lifted, shake 
the cloth well so no dust can drop into the lard. With 
a barrel, it is better to take out a fortnight’s supply in 
'something smaller; for example, a special lard-bucket of 
pressed tin, with no seams to leak. Keep the barrel upon 
a platform three or four inches above the store-room 
floor. This lets air go underneath, and prevents rats 
from undermining to gnaw through the bottom. 

Salad-oil is sensibly cheaper, and very generally better, 
if bought by the gallon from a reliable importer. True, 
there are such trade tricks as sending back over-sea cot¬ 
ton-seed oil labelled “ pure olive-oil,” but one is less apt 
to suffer from such practices at the hands of a big dealer 
than from one who sells only bottled goods. Keep oil 
bought thus in bulk, in demijohns, holding two to three 
gallons, and set the demijohns where it is darkish and 
cool. 


Sugar, Salt, Spices, Flour, Soap 

So much has already been said of keeping sugar, salt, 
spices, flour, and soap (see Chapters on Kitchens and 
Closets), it is hardly worth while to do more than mention 
them here. In a general way, all of them need the same 
treatment; that is, to be kept dry, clean, and in such 
fashion as to avoid waste. 

Always empty a tin flour-can completely, and dust it 
out well before putting in a fresh supply. Twice a year 
at least wipe out the can with a cloth wet in clear boiling 
water, and dry it well, then let it air a while. In damp, 
™ggy, mouldy weather put an asbestos mat upon top of 
a warm stove, and set the flour-can on the mat long 



Seven] keeping Ctnngs is* 


enough to heat and dry its contents without scorching. 
Keep the lid open while the warming goes on; thus the 
moisture driven away is not recondensed and made more 
harmful. Wooden flour-bins or buckets are liable to 
breed and harbour weevils. If one must perforce use 
wood, take care to empty, air, scour, and scald it at least 
every three months. 

Soap, like wine, is the better for age. Wherefore buy 
it by the box. Borax soaps are milder than those made 
with soda and potash. But any good white soap, prop¬ 
erly kept and managed, will do good work. Take out 
bars from their box, and pile them, cob-house fashion, in 
a light airy place. With a special laundry, a shelf above 
the stove is the place for soap, starch, and bluing, all of 
which need warmth, dryness, and light. 

Syrups, Cereals, Dried Fruits 

Keep syrups cool and dark, otherwise they are liable 
to grain a good deal. Glass is best to hold them. Next 
comes new tin. Earthenware sometimes gives a heavy 
taste, but will answer if jugs are new and clean. A jug 
used for wine or vinegar is unfit for syrup; almost in¬ 
fallibly the syrup will get a tang of the former contents. 

Put dried fruit either into glass-jars or burlap-bags, 
and keep it dry and warm. Examine it frequently for 
worms; if they are found, scald the fruit two minutes, 
after picking out all the visibly wormy pieces, drain well, 
and dry in the oven. Insect depredations may be, in 
large measure, prevented by laying the dried-fruit bags 
upon a grating several inches above the range, or setting 
the jars containing it in a warm oven, for ten to twenty 
minutes about every fortnight. 

Rice, cereals, and crackers all need to be kept as dry 
as possible. Warmth hurts none of them; thus they are 
best placed on high shelves. Put cereals bought in bulk 



132 


Household Economy 


into double burlap-bags; it is stronger than cheese-cloth, 
yet admits air nearly as well. Crackers keep best in their 
original packages. If they are bought loose, store them 
in a tin or paper box, lined all inside with water-proof 
paper. 

Preservative Chemicals—So-Called 

Beware as of the plague the so-called “ preserving 
powders ” hawked about the country, particularly in the 
rural regions. Almost invariably they contain either 
salicylic acid, boracic acid, or formaldehyde—all good in 
their way, yet deleterious in food-stuffs. Witness the 
fact that New York City forbids their use by market-men, 
milk-men, and provision-dealers generally. None of 
them is poisonous, but all act by preventing natural 
changes in animal and vegetable substances. Hence 
they are ruinous to health and digestion. Depend on it 
that there is but one perfectly safe process for preserving 
fresh fruits and vegetables—to wit, namely, hermetic 
sealing in air-tight jars or cans. Animal substances are 
also thus preserved, and by salting and drying as well. 
Fruit and vegetables can also be dried, and remain whole¬ 
some if the process is quick and cleanly. Further, fruits 
can be conserved in sugar, and be not only wholesome, 
but delicious. Outside of these processes, preservatives 
are things it is very well to let alone. 





Chapter EIGHT 

JFomcjfootctJ Jfrtentis 

E VERYBODY who has room enough, and 
money enough, ought to keep at least a horse 
and a cow. With a half-acre plot there is 
room a-plenty. It can be managed even upon 
a quarter-acre if the house itself is not over¬ 
big. Cost may be pretty much what one chooses. One 
American, at least, spent seven-hundred-odd thousand 
dollars in building and beautifying a stable to hold less 
than a dozen horses, yet it is questionable if he got as 
much pleasure out of it as simpler and luckier folk have 
got out of structures costing less than two hundred. 

Unless the home’s indwellers are all either invalids, 
very old, or lazy, or cowardly, keeping live stock need 
not entail keeping a man to look after them. If there 
is a hired man handy, so much the better. But anybody 
—man, woman, boy, or girl—can attend to a couple of 
animals, and thereby get a liberal education in patience, 
punctuality, kindly courtesy, and fore-thoughted care. 

Pleasure wholly aside, horse-feed is cheaper than doc¬ 
tors’ bills, to say nothing of being ever so much more 
satisfactory as an investment. A good cow well kept 
saves her first cost and feed-bill several times over in the 
course of a year. Further, there is the certainty of clean 
and wholesome milk, no small matter with growing chil¬ 
dren, or sickly ones, to be looked out for. Science says 
nowadays, after heaps of intricate figuring, that milk has 
a dietary value in proportion to cost beyond that of any 

133 


*34 


Household Economy [Chapter 


other food substance. More than that, it tells us how 
important it is to have exactly the right kind of milk. 
No other eatable thing is subject to so many chances and 
changes—pretty generally for the worse. 

Three things are essential to pure milk—a healthy cow, 
a well-aired milking-place, and clean hands for the milk¬ 
ing. Simple enough all, when there is but one cow to 
be looked after, but too often, and too wofully, conspicu¬ 
ous by absence in the dairies which supply the mass of 
human kind. Possibly the least objectionable dairyman 
yet evolved is the South American one, who drives his 
cow through the streets o’ mornings, and milks the al¬ 
lotment for each household directly into its own pitcher. 
One would think that here, at least, adulteration was im¬ 
possible. But, according to travellers, there are tricks 
in even the live-cow business. Commonly the milk-man 
makes treaty with the maids of all work, who rush out 
to him with pitchers a third full of water. 

About Barns 

About barns it is worse than idle to dogmatise. If the 
barn be already built, accept the ills the builder provides, 
and do all that is possible to minimise them. If building 
is in order, remember these things—to set the barn on 
firm dry ground as far as possible from the house, to give 
it a south face or an easterly one, and to let it stand as 
close as it well can to a lane, alley, or back street. 

Accurate measurements cannot be given; in most cases 
they would be an impertinence. But where one wishes 
to accommodate a horse and a cow, a light trap, and may¬ 
be a saddle or two, this is a fairly good plan. Have a 
barn twelve feet long, nine feet wide, and twelve feet 
between eaves and floor, with a shed-stable eight feet 
wide down the sunniest side of it. It should be stoutly 
framed, and covered with upright sheathing, tongue-and- 




Eight] jfour^jfooteti jfrtentis 


i35 


grooved, and driven tight. If expense is an object, 
rough sheathing with two-inch strips over the seams an¬ 
swers very well. In severe climates the shed-walls had 
better be double, with building-paper in between, and 
also under the roof between the shingles and the ceiling. 
Give the roof a good pitch, thus it sheds storm-water and 
affords loft-space. Eight feet above ground put in a 
tight tongue-and-grooved floor, tight enough to save 
everything underneath from dust, hayseeds, etc. Make 
light sliding-doors in the shedded wall, directly over the 
stalls. Hay can be pitched down through these doors. 
The gable next the passage-way, whether lane or street 
or private drive, should have a big door for putting in 
hay, oats, or any sort of rough feed. Build a tight grain- 
bin in one corner of the loft. Narrow stairs should run 
up, inside the carriage-house, across the back. They 
need not be more than eighteen inches wide. Under¬ 
neath them set stout smooth bar-racks for saddles, har¬ 
ness, and so on. 

For the foundation, dig out the whole space to a depth 
of at least two feet, and fill in the excavation with eighteen 
inches of clean big gravel. Upon the gravel lay six 
inches of clean earth packed very hard. Lay upon this 
earth inside the carriage-house two coats of cement. In 
this way wheels are guarded against the equally fatal ex¬ 
tremes of dryness and dampness. In the stable there are 
several ways. One is to leave the packed earthen sur¬ 
face bare; it is infinitely soothing and wholesome to the 
feet of stalled things. It needs whitewash once a month, 
and every three months to have two inches scraped from 
it, added to the compost heap, and replaced with fresh 
clean earth. But this requires space, trouble, and intelli¬ 
gent care. Wherefore in many cases—in most cases, 
indeed, it is better to cement the shed-floor as well, and 
set above it a floor of stout slats, nailed to supports back 
and front with half-inch interstices. Through this slatted 



136 


Household Economy [Chapter 


floor very much of soilure sifts. It is elastic—nearly as 
good for hoofs as the clean earth. Further, it can be 
lifted, the cemented surface swept clean, and whole stall 
washed out with the hose. With a slatted floor the ce¬ 
mented surface can slope more than would be advisable 
with an earthen one, thus insuring drainage. By mak¬ 
ing the outer cross-bar an inch or two thicker than the 
inner one, the slat-floor will still be level. Have the stall 
partition too high for interference, but open at the top 
to help in ventilation. 

There ought to be a brick gutter, shallow but well 
cemented, at the back of the stalls with fall enough to 
take away the liquid-manure. Keep it free of litter, and 
flush it once a week with a strong solution of copperas, 
or else with carbolic soap-suds. 

Put carbolic acid in the whitewash, which should be 
applied liberally to everything inside the stalls except the 
manger. Whitewash also semi-yearly the whole interior 
of the carriage-house. It helps to keep the air sweet and 
dry, and to banish mould and must; indeed, the whole 
army of bacteria. 

Choice and Care of Carriages and 

Harness 

Carriages should be chosen with an eye to the beasts 
that must draw them. The nearer level the draught, the 
greater the ease to team and driver. That is to say, high¬ 
wheeled vehicles require high horses. Moreover, noth¬ 
ing looks much worse than a pony-built cob pacing along 
with a rakish dog-cart at his heels, unless, indeed, it be a 
big long-stepping trotter hooked up to a low phaeton. 
Another point—the closer a vehicle is coupled, the lighter 
its draught. Length betwixt fore and hind wheels may 
mean ease to the riders, but is certainly very wearing on 
the team. In proof one has but to take the so-called 




Ei § ht ] jfour*jfooteti jfrimtis 


i 37 


bicycle sulky, which has so lowered trotting-records. It 
puts the driver’s weight almost over the horse rather than 
behind it. 

Draught-power increases inversely to numbers; thus 
two horses can draw with ease four times the load that 
would tax either animal pulling separately. Still, if a 
single vehicle is properly constructed and proportioned 
to the conformation of the horse, it will hold a moderate¬ 
sized family without danger to the draught-beast. Al¬ 
ways look for a carriage of such height that the main 
traction of the running-gear comes as nearly as possible 
even with the point of the horse’s shoulder. Choose 
also, in a vehicle, the sound rather than the showy. A 
reputable maker’s work is preferable—shops that needs 
must live up to themselves to live on are chary of sending 
out poor work; also of using unseasoned timber, flawy 
iron, and cheap gaudy paint. In vehicles, more than al¬ 
most anything else, the best is, in the end, the cheapest. 
Repairs are costly—so costly that often a cheap trap’s 
maintenance in running order for a year is double its orig¬ 
inal price. Beyond that, repairs have a knack of making 
haste slowly; the cheap trap is often out of commission 
at the very time it is most needed. 

Staunch irons, sound wood, and good leather are but 
little hurt by getting caught in a storm. But they should 
never be left to stand in it—no vehicle ever built but will 
be ruined by such treatment. Once the wood is soaked 
it swells irresistibly. When it shrinks again, the join is 
loosened. Many wettings and dryings reduce the wheels 
to clattering nuisances, the whole outfit, indeed, to a rat¬ 
tle-trap. It is nearly as ruinous to leave a damp or muddy 
vehicle standing. The whole surface ought to be cleaned, 
and rubbed dry, then slightly oiled and rubbed again. 
Caked mud, hard and dry, marks varnished surfaces in¬ 
delibly. Boiled linseed-oil mixed with half its own bulk 
of alcohol, and a very little turpentine, will keep panels 



Household Economy [Chapter 


138 


and running-gear bright and trig, to say nothing of saving 
more than half the wear. 

In one corner of the carriage-house there should be a 
locker, with shallow shelves at the upper part. Keep in 
it wash-leathers for polishing, a soft scrubbing-brush, a 
blunt-edged wooden scraper, some big crash wash-cloths, 
a big bunch of clean cotton-waste, the polishing oil, bot¬ 
tled and tightly corked; another bottle, of strong soda- 
water; and a third, a very small one, of the best carriage- 
varnish. Hang a fibre-pail upon a handy hook, and see 
that it is emptied and rinsed after each using. 

Keep also in the locker a fine-strawed whisk-broom for 
dusting cushions, and a sheet of stout unbleached muslin 
to cover the trap when not in use. Provide still other 
muslin-sheets to cover harness and saddle racks. A bot¬ 
tle of neat’s-foot oil, filtered, and mixed with the least 
drop of alcohol, and some bits of flannel are also essential. 
A fine bristle harness-brush and a box of whiting will 
come in handy. Thus equipped, one can keep every¬ 
thing in good condition with a minimum of trouble. 

To clean a muddy trap, remove all cakes and lumps 
with the scraper, then rub the spots hard while still damp 
with a crash cloth. Smear the mud as little as possible. 
Next half-fill the wash-bucket, put in enough dissolved 
soda to make it feel slightly slick, wash the spotted parts 
quickly, rinse with a cloth dipped in clear water, and rub 
dry. Then dip a bunch of cotton-waste in polishing oil, 
and rub very hard. But take care not to put the greasy 
waste back in the locker, or, indeed, in any confined space, 
as it is suspected of developing spontaneous combustion. 
Touch up scratches with the carriage-varnish. 

Go over a dusty trap well with a clean cloth, wiping all 
crevices, and rubbing plain spaces. Brush the cushions, 
rug, etc., and turn them upside down. A weekly sun¬ 
ning helps them. It should not be longer than an hour, 
as the colours are apt to fade. Brush the top very well, 



Eigin] jfour=jfboteti jfrtentis 


i39 


especially if it is of leather. If it is movable, straighten 
it out at least once a week, dust it well, and wipe with a 
slightly damp cloth. Twice a year it ought to be thus 
made taut, and then well rubbed over with the filtered 
neat’s-foot oil. 

Wheels in daily use need axle-grease at least once a 
week. To apply it, use one of the handy lever-jacks to 
lift the axle, unscrew the nut in the end of the hub with 
a square wrench, spin the wheel almost off, daub the axle 
liberally with the unguent, slip the wheel back in place, 
and replace the tap. 

Harness whenever used should be scraped clean of 
sweat, mud, etc., and placed on the rack in such fashion 
that it cannot shape itself awry. Monthly it should be 
well washed in tepid soap-suds, dried quickly, then rubbed 
lightly over with neat’s-foot oil. If collars are used, beat 
them up on the inside with a smallish round stick, so there 
may be neither lumps nor creases to make distressing 
collar-galls. Keep buckles, bridoons, and so on bright 
by occasional rubbings with whiting. In choosing har¬ 
ness it is well to avoid the showy sort unless one has a 
regular coachman. Jingling chains, linked rings, glit¬ 
tering rosettes upon head-stalls, gay red and blue pip¬ 
ings, and all the rest of it, need no end of care. The very 
finest harness has leather-covered buckles, and is made 
as plain as possible. Left the natural-leather colour, it 
is wonderfully smart with a trap of natural-coloured wood, 
oak or maple. Leather-coloured harness should be 
cleaned as directed, and dressed afterward, once or twice 
a year, with a special tan-dressing, such as is used for 
shoes. 

How to Harness a Horse 

Bridles need especial care. Keep the bits very clean, 
and see to it that they are smooth. The least roughness 
may mean a sore mouth, and consequent disablement to 




140 Household Economy [Chapter 


the horse, to say nothing of untold suffering. In cold 
weather always warm bridle-bits before putting them in 
horses’ mouths. Never drive on a curb-bit, nor a bar- 
snaffle. The plain snaffle gives ample control. Avoid 
also the over-head check. Indeed, any sort of check-rein 
upon a harness horse is a relic of barbarism that cannot 
be too strongly discountenanced. 

In harnessing a horse, first bridle him, and make sure 
the head-stall fits—that it is neither so long the bit will 
drop against the teeth, nor so short the bit will cut the 
mouth at the corners. Next adjust the collar carefully, 
buckling it so it shall be neither tight nor loose. For 
light driving the breast-strap, or Dutch collar, is excel¬ 
lent, especially in hot weather. But with a heavy load, 
or where there is much work uphill, nothing can quite 
take the place of the soft full-padded collar. When sure 
it is properly adjusted, lift upon the right arm, breech¬ 
ing, crupper, saddle, girth, and hames, and lay them 
gently upon the horse’s back a little way behind the with¬ 
ers. Fit the hames into their proper groove upon the 
outside of the collar, tie them fast, then move the saddle 
back the length of its strap, which should bring it to rest 
well over the horse’s barrel. See that the saddle-pads 
press evenly either side the back-bone, also that there is 
not a hard or gritty particle upon them to gall the skin. 
Then drop the breeching around the animal’s quarters, 
and slip the crupper deftly underneath its tail. Buckle 
in place, taking care it is not too tight. Next back the 
horse into the shafts, lifting them as he moves between, 
and slipping the ends of them through the shaft-stirrups 
swung either side the saddle. Snap the ends of the traces, 
which are fastened in front to the hames, over the buttons 
on the ends of the single tree. Wind the hold-back 
straps, in which the breeching ends, twice or thrice around 
the shafts, first slipping them in the catches or loops pro¬ 
vided, and buckle them, taking care to leave them of 



Eight] jfour^ooteti jfrtenfcs 


141 


even length, also not to draw the horse up too short. It 
remains only to fasten the girth and put on the reins. 
The reins go first through upstanding rings upon the 
saddle, then are buckled into the rings either side the bit. 
The bridle-rein can either lie loose upon the neck, or go 
back into the check-holder. The check-holder is the 
best place for it, always provided that the rein is long 
enough to give the horse free use of his head in going 
uphill or down. 

Double harnessing is almost the same thing. The 
main difference is that there are no holding-back straps, 
but instead of them breast-straps, running from the 
hames to the pole, and, further, in the setting on of the 
reins. Double reins have branched ends of unequal 
length. In putting them on, buckle the short end of 
each rein in the outside ring of a bit, and pass the long 
end into the inside ring of the other horse’s bridle. Thus 
the two long ends cross equally, and insure that a pull 
upon either rein shall be felt by both draught beasts. In 
driving either a single or double team, hold the reins 
crossed in the left hand, palm upward. Thus the slight¬ 
est wrist-motion serves to guide a well-bitted and light¬ 
mouthed animal. No other sort should be used for 
pleasure-driving. A beast that pulls on the bit, or is 
given to what horsemen call “ boring ”—that is, trying 
persistently to go to right or left rather than in a straight 
line—is one to get rid of, even though outside those 
tricks he may own half the virtues of the perfect horse. 

Women, especially timid women, are sadly given to 
driving with a line in each hand. Nothing looks much 
worse, or is better calculated to ruin an animal’s mouth. 
It cannot be too much insisted on that a horse’s mouth 
is, in a state of nature, nearly as tender as a baby’s. To 
jerk or drag upon it is a refinement of cruelty. The per¬ 
fect driver sits straight, with the driving-hand low, and 
drives with the least possible exhibition of control. 




142 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Summing up, in carriages or harness it is ever so much 
better worth one’s while to pay money for quality than 
for show; also to use the ounce of prevention in their care 
that will be found worth several tons of cure. 

The Family Horse 

Here, again, dogmatism is worse than impertinence. 
But at least it is worth while to set down several things 
the family horse should not be, or do. As to age, he 
should not be either young or old. Up to four years no 
animal’s character is sufficiently formed to trust; after 
ten or twelve, the best and trustiest of them may grow 
cranky, crabbed, and full of ugly tricks. This is not to 
say the family friend who has grown into one’s heart 
through years of comradry should be banished, but to 
impress possible horse-buyers with the value of seeking 
the Irishman’s “ middle extreme.” 

While thoroughbreds are in the main too high-strung 
for family service, a dash of blood is invaluable; it gives 
intelligence, beauty, health, and staying-power. A half- 
bred animal of good conformation will eat less by one- 
third than a cold-blood of the same inches, last longer, 
go further, faster, and keep in better condition, to say 
nothing of being ever so much more entertaining as a 
companion. 

A hand, the standard of horse-measurement, is four 
inches. The best height for a general-purpose horse is 
fifteen or fifteen-and-a-half hands. Avoid an animal 
showing too much daylight below; also one long-waisted, 
or rather long-backed, with coarse, heavy legs and big 
splay feet. For driving, the squarer a horse trots the 
better. To judge the action, stand in front and watch 
the fore-feet. If they are thrown outward, with a half¬ 
circular motion, the beast is splay-footed, and will never 
be true-going. This, of course, unshod. Sometimes 




M3 


Eight] jfour^ootcti jfrtenlis 


improper shoeing causes a bad gait, which may be rem¬ 
edied entirely by properly balancing the feet. 

A round symmetrical body, short back, sloping shoul¬ 
ders, and general snug, even, blocky build, are marks of 
a good and thriving animal. The neck should rise from 
the withers in a gentle slope. If there is a marked de¬ 
pression at the join, the beast is ewe-necked, and, though 
it may pull true and go well, is likely to be of a delicate 
constitution. A very long head, with a pronounced nose 
—“ Roman nose ” is the jockey’s phrase for it—is not 
desirable. But in judging a beast, eyes and ears are the 
best indices of disposition. The eyes should be bright, 
full, but not too prominent, clear—no suspicion of film 
can be tolerated—the white clean, but only a little show¬ 
ing. Much white visible is a sure sign of viciousness. 
Indeed, there is no other single mark so infallibly in¬ 
dicative of the horse to let alone. Some farriers contend 
that age is shown by wrinkles in the eye-lid; that there 
will be a wrinkle for each year beyond six. This is, how¬ 
ever, problematic. There can be no doubt as regards 
the ears. They should be wide apart, yet not low-set, 
over-big, nor drooping. Very small ears go usually with 
the white eyes, and, like them, indicate bad temper. Per¬ 
fect ears are finely pointed, thin rather than thick, fairly 
open where they join the head, with the fore-top falling 
symmetrically between. Upon the road they are carried 
one forward, one back. Thus the beast hears both ways. 
If both are suddenly pricked forward, look out. The 
horse hears or sees something out of the common. 

Persistent shying at small roadside objects is often a 
sign of bad eyes. Balking, kicking, biting, and cribbing 
are tricks taught by bad handling, and very hard to cure. 
If cured at all, it must be by courage and kindness. Right 
here let it be said that the person afraid of horses should 
never undertake to control them. Children should al¬ 
ways be taught to have no fear of any sort of domestic 





144 


Household Economy [Chapter 


animals. Little ones, too young to have been taught 
fear, are nearly always safe in the company of four-footed 
things. 

A pair of ponies can be kept in the room, and on the 
feed, of an average horse. A pair of donkeys are still 
more economical, both in cost and keep. For driving 
around villages or suburban places, the ponies or donkeys 
are admirable. Still, for real drives cross-country, or for 
loafing about summer lanes, nothing matches the well- 
fed, well-groomed, well-conditioned animal strong 
enough to take a light trap and three or four people up 
hill, down dell, the best part of the day. Often among 
cross-bred trotters one finds nearly ideal animals. Hack¬ 
ney blood also makes showy and serviceable beasts. All 
these may be had for a moderate price. But beware of 
anything which is the product of several separate strains, 
as the hackney with the cross-bred trotter, or the trotter 
with an infusion of the heavy Percheron. However 
sightly such beasts appear in the sales-ring, they are 
nearly always hard to handle and worse to keep; soft, un¬ 
reliable, what horsemen call “ washy,” and given to all 
the ills horse-flesh is heir to. 

Care of a Horse 

The care of a horse is very simple. He needs to be 
curried whenever he has been driven or ridden to a sweat, 
brushed afterward, then well rubbed down. Standing in 
stall he should be brushed every day, and curried twice a 
week. At all times he ought to be well bedded, with 
clean dry litter, either leaves, bright straw, or fine soft 
shavings. Coarse, damp litter is unwholesome. The 
bedding ought to be renewed every seven or ten days. 
Throw the old bedding in the compost heap, which is a 
necessary adjunct of even the smallest stable. Clean the 
stall daily. Take up the bedding upon a two-tined fork, 



Eight] jfour^jTooteti jfffeutis 


M5 


shake all manure out of it, and throw it in a compact heap 
at the back of the stall. Shovel up the droppings, then 
sweep the floor well with a hickory broom, first sprinkling 
it well with either copperas-water or dilute carbolic acid. 
Monthly scour the manger and drinking-trough with hot 
carbolic soap-suds. A stall thus kept will be almost 
odourless, and wholly sanitary. 

A horse that comes in reeking hot should not stand 
still to cool. Instead, walk him about, gradually slackening 
speed. Never feed a horse until thoroughly cooled, nor 
give more than a swallow of water when he comes thirsty 
to the trough. Let the swallow be a full one; then pull 
up his head, and make him wait a minute or two. Thus 
he is saved from a host of stomach ills. Feed with sound 
whole grain, either corn or oats. Oats and bright hay, 
or sound corn-fodder, make up an ideal ration. Give only 
what grain will be eaten clean. With a hard drive in 
prospect, give extra feed a day or two beforehand, but 
a sparing meal when on the point of setting out. Water 
after the morning feed, and before and after the mid-day 
one. If the grain is ground, it is better either made into 
mashes, by mixing with hot water and a little salt, or 
sprinkled over well-cut hay that has been made fairly 
damp. 

Even an hour at grass every week in summer helps a 
horse wonderfully. Every day, of course, is better. In 
winter two or three carrots, or as many apples, with the 
noon feed are much better than medicine to keep him 
healthy. Sugar is best given sparingly, as a sort of re¬ 
ward of merit. Keep a lump of rock-salt in an open-work 
iron salt-box hanging in the stall, where it can be licked 
at pleasure. Upon woodland excursions it pays to cut 
longish straight sticks of young oak, dog-wood, and pop¬ 
lar. Lay one of these across the manger after feeding 
is done, and see how avidly the horse will peel off and 
devour the bark. It is nature’s tonic, and will soon show 




146 


Household Economy [Chapter 


its virtues in shining coat, clear eyes, and increased 
strength and speed. 

Standing in stall is more wearing than the hardest sort 
of use. Wherefore give a horse exercise every day. 
Twice a day is better. Walking exercise at first, quick¬ 
ening gradually to a gentle run. This saves health and 
temper. The best horse in the world is unsafe, madly 
rebellious, after standing a week, cabined, cribbed, con¬ 
fined. 

Stalls and Fittings 

With a big horse, or pair of ponies, and a small cow, 
divide the shed unequally—five feet for the cow, seven 
for the team. With average animals, six-foot stalls are 
better. With walls and partitions of sheathing, ventila¬ 
tion will almost take care of itself; still, it is well to have 
square-grated ventilators in each end of the shed, and, 
additionally, a two-light sash, with a wooden-grating out¬ 
side, set so as to slide, in the outer shed-wall opposite each 
stall. Thus the light comes over the animal’s shoulders, 
instead of streaming in their eyes. The windows ought to 
be just under the eaves, out of danger from the wildest 
kicks. In summer leave them open, but cover the grat¬ 
ing with cheese-cloth or burlaps, to exclude light, and 
with it the tormenting flies. 

Set the horse’s manger according to his height; he 
should be able to eat from it with his neck held level. 
Do not halter him in stall unless very unruly; still, it is 
well to have a big ring stoutly fastened to the wall, several 
feet above the manger, for a running halter, long enough 
to permit lying down. It must not be too long; there 
is the danger of getting a foot over it, and casting him¬ 
self in rising, to be guarded against. In a double stall 
have two halter-rings; then the occupants can be so teth¬ 
ered the greedy fellow cannot whip away and rob the 
other of his feed. 




STALLS AND FITTINGS 





























































































































































































- 
























































Eight] jfour^jfooteti jfrtentis 


i47 


With running water, an iron drinking-fountain is 
handy. Theoretically it saves trouble. Practically it 
often makes more. In cold weather it is apt to get full 
of ice. A brick cistern either under or above ground, 
well cemented, and supplied with rain-water, is the very 
best and most wholesome source of stable-water. Ani¬ 
mals prefer soft water to hard, and thrive much better 
upon it. Besides, such cistern-water is almost always of 
the right temperature. 

Feed a cow upon a platform or little raised floor of a 
height to let her eat with her head well down, but without 
spreading her fore-legs, as in grazing. The platform is 
for rough food—hay, corn-stalks, and ensilage. Water 
and grain should be given in buckets, which can be re¬ 
moved and well washed between times. 

Tying up often saves a cow from fouling her udder. 
Put an easy leather-collar around her neck, with a snap- 
hook at one side of it to hold a ring in the end of a light 
chain running to the stanchions either side the feeding 
floor. Give her chain enough for easy movement, but 
not enough to permit turning about. 

The Family Cow 

The family cow is a general-purpose animal which can 
be depended on for milk ten months out of twelve, and, 
when past milking-age, have some attraction for the 
butcher. Hence it goes without saying she is not any 
of the fancy full-blooded beasts. Among the full-bloods 
a Jersey with an American pedigree running back forty 
years is unquestionably the best. If one has a ready mar¬ 
ket for cream, such a cow well kept may pay all her own 
expenses, yet furnish a surplus of cream for family use. 
The milk, however, is not so good for children or delicate 
people as that of grade animals—that is, pure blood, 
either Jersey, Ayrshire, Devon, or milking Short Horn, 




148 Household Economy [Chapter 


crossed upon good native milking-stock. Holstein cows 
give enormous milk-yields, but are so big and ungainly 
they are not suited to private or, rather, amateur keep¬ 
ing. The drawback to the Jersey strain, even the Amer¬ 
ican Jersey, is that the dry cows do not bring much when 
they go to the shambles. 

Whatever the breed—whether any or none—the cow 
herself is the thing. Choose a beast with a fine lean head, 
lightish fore-quarters, a wedge-shaped body, and legs 
rather short than long. She ought to stand an inch 
higher at hips than withers, and hold her hind legs well 
apart. Long horns are undesirable. They should be 
black at the tips, of a creamy or, rather, waxy texture 
elsewhere, and curve gently inward. Eyes, bright, clear, 
and full open; ears thin and flexible; coat, loose on the 
frame, mellow; the hair fine to the touch, the skin show¬ 
ing yellow underneath when the hair is parted. 

Udder-size is often deceptive. There are fleshy ud¬ 
ders, and others that shrivel and crumple like a kid-glove. 
Choose the kid-glove ones, and have the quality proved 
by clean milking. Teats too big to be well grasped give 
no end of trouble; they are apt to be bruised in milking. 
Too small, they are still troublesome, as they cramp the 
hand, and thus prevent clean milking. The perfect udder 
is generous in size, well let down to the teats, of fine 
smooth skin, with scattered silky hairs upon the upper 
part. The main colour should be white, though a blotch 
of coat-colour at one side is not bad. But any roughness 
or excoriation is a cause of suspicion. So is the least 
caking or lumpiness after milking. Big milk-veins are 
thought to indicate a generous flow; still, they have been 
lacking in some queens of the pail. 

The family cow should not weigh above a thousand 
pounds. Eight hundred, or even seven, is in most cases 
better. Well cared for, with a month-old calf, a good 
milker should give something more than her own live 




Ei s ht i jTour-jfooteli jfdcntis 


149 


weight in milk each month, for six months. After that 
the amount lessens, though there is about the same quan¬ 
tity of cream and potentially of butter. 

Feeding the Cow 

Whole grain is the most wasteful sort of cow-feed. 
Use ground stuffs, as oats and corn, pea and corn-meal, 
wheat-bran or middlings, with a little oil-meal. Cook it 
well, to a sort of soft mush, and feed milk-warm even in 
summer weather. From October to April warm the wa¬ 
ter for drinking; a cold pailful may cost a quart of milk 
next milking. In addition, give plenty of rough food— 
hay, corn-stalks, straw, ensilage, pea-stalks, and so on. 
Whatever is fed must be sound. Any sort of mouldy or 
strong substance will taint and ruin the milk, besides 
hurting the animal’s stomach. So long as a cow thrives 
and does not lay on flesh, she cannot be over-fed. This, 
of course, at steady feeds. Like any other beast, she is 
in danger of surfeit if given too much at once. 

Apples, if sound and sweet, are as good for a cow as 
a horse. Carrots also may be fed, but sparingly; so may 
sugar-beets, but turnips are barred by tainting the milk. 
All manner of bread-scraps may be cooked up in the food. 
Occasional cabbage-leaves are much relished, but beware 
of too many. Put a little salt in the cooked messes, and 
sprinkle the roughness with salt water. In addition keep 
rock-salt, as for the horse. Where salt is always at hand, 
an animal is in no danger of getting too much. 

Keep a cow always well bedded, and clean the stall 
carefully. Curry and card the coat well every day. Do 
the work thoroughly but gently. The cow will soon 
grow to love it. In a state of nature her tongue is a com¬ 
bination of brush and card, her teeth her curry-comb. 
Renew her bedding as often as it grows dirty, and occa¬ 
sionally, after currying, wash the udder and hind quarters 




Household Economy [Chapter 


150 


well with tepid soap-suds, and rub dry. Give gentle ex¬ 
ercise every day. In summer, if it is any way possible, 
tether the cow at grass soon after the morning milking, 
and take her back to stall before the heat of the day. If 
there is no pasture handy, at least let her out in the air 
for some hours each day. 

Milking and Milk-Pails 

If the milking must be done in stall, sprinkle the floor 
of it well before beginning, and once or twice a week put 
a lump of copperas in the sprinkler. Wash the whole 
udder very well, and wipe it dry, then wash hands, and 
put on a special milking-garment, like a child’s long 
apron, with elbow-sleeves. Tie a clean cloth over the 
hair. It has been found at the experiment stations that 
more than fifty per cent, of milk impurities get into it 
before it is ever strained, either from the milker, the cow 
herself, or the air of the milking-place. 

Milk-vessels of pressed tin are far and away the best; 
they are light, cheap, and have no seams to catch dirt. 
Only an expert can milk with both hands, and thus need 
the big pail set between the cow’s feet. It is better to 
use a quart-cup, and milk with one hand, changing the 
hand as the muscles tire. Milking is one of the few things 
easier done than said. Not that as work it is easy, but 
one may do it more readily than tell how it ought to be 
done. Use the cow gently, talking to her kindly at the 
beginning, and showing patience with her occasional 
vagaries. As soon as the cup is three parts full, empty 
it in the bucket, which should stand on a shelf outside, 
and have a hemmed circular-cover of cheese-cloth, with 
a heavy wire run in the hem. Warm milk must not be 
covered close for even a little while; it spoils both the 
taste and the keeping quality. 



I K1 

V,' 


^ght] jfour^ootEti jfrtenfrg 

Care of Milk and Milk-Vessels 

Nothing else in the world takes an alien taint so readily 
and so disastrously as fresh milk. Never let it go into a 
cellar, or any place that is not airy, dry, and sweet. Take 
it out of the stall’s neighbourhood the minute milking is 
done. In straining it, suspend the strainer at least two 
feet from the top of the crock, and pour in the milk in a 
slow, steady stream. Aeration takes away the animal 
heat and odour. If cool milk is wanted at once, pour a 
sufficient amount of the strained milk into a very shallow 
pan, and set the pan, covered with cheese-cloth, upon a 
block of ice. The milk should not be more than an inch 
deep in it, and will be cool in ten minutes. 

Do not put ice in milk. Aside from the chance of 
contamination, it somehow changes the nutritive values. 
Where milk must be kept ice-cold, as in a sick-room, set 
the vessel containing it in water with plenty of ice, and 
place in the milk itself a wide-mouthed bottle very care¬ 
fully washed, and filled with cracked ice. 

New milk, put while warm into a refrigerator, gets a 
disagreeable taste, and quickly taints everything else. It 
is not safe to put away milk anywhere until it has lost 
animal heat, nor even to scald it for cream, nor to sterilise 
it. In scalding, fill bright tin-pans two-thirds full, set 
them upon the stove, and let them heat very gradually, 
but not to boiling-point. About a hundred and fifty de¬ 
grees is right. The cream comes quicker for scalding, 
and stays sweet longer, but is not so good for delicate 
cookery, though it makes fine butter. 

With one cow it is better to churn all the milk than to 
keep cream over until a churning accumulates. Un¬ 
skimmed milk makes the only buttermilk really worth the 
name, a delicious and nourishing drink, and almost in¬ 
valuable in cookery. Have two big stone-crocks of four 
or five-gallons capacity, with hard-wood top and dasher 



x 5 2 


Household Economy [Chapter 


that will fit both. Put the surplus of morning milk into 
one of them after it is well cooled, cover with either a 
cheese-cloth or wire-gauze cover, and let stand in a cool 
place. Just before bed-time add the night’s milk, which 
has been well cooled and strained. By morning in sum¬ 
mer-time the whole mass should be clabbered and ready 
for churning. Scald top and dasher in boiling water, cool 
them, put them on, and begin to churn. If the milk 
foams, add a very little boiling water, churning hard as 
it goes in. In twenty minutes the butter ought to come. 
Take off the top, pour in a little cold water, gather the 
butter on the dasher, and lift it out into a bowl of cold 
water. The water poured in the churn will not hurt the 
buttermilk, as it will rise to the top, and can be poured 
off. Use the two crock-churns alternately, sunning the 
empty one, after washing and scalding well. 

Winter cream can be skimmed, and kept until a churn¬ 
ing accumulates. Without a regular dairy, it is hard to 
keep it sweet and wholesome. It is one of milk’s idio¬ 
syncrasies to take up every smell and taste that reaches 
it when uncovered, and to develop worse smells and 
tastes on its own account, if kept covered too close. 
Cream keeps fairly well in cold weather if put in a sweet 
earthen crock, and covered with a coarse, loosely woven 
cloth. If it can be kept safe outside, away from bad air, 
the butter will be all the better. 

Separators 

All that has been written of hand methods is meant 
for the keeper of a single cow. With three or more good 
milkers, it pays to give one’s self the help of modern ma¬ 
chinery. Hand-separators range in price from $65 to 
$125, according to capacity. The smallest size skims 
one hundred and sixty pounds of milk in an hour, the 
largest, four hundred. All but the very smallest have 



Eight] J^our^jfooteti jFrtentis 


i53 


attachments for other than hand-power. A gasolene en¬ 
gine, a dog, a goat, even a donkey, on a tread-wheel may 
do the work excellently, but with a machine properly 
geared it will not over-tax the strength of a reasonably 
well-muscled man or woman. 

A separator handling the milk of five cows will, it is 
estimated, pay for itself in the course of a year by the 
extra amount of cream. Properly handled, it leaves less 
than one-tenth per cent, of butter-fat in the milk. Hand- 
skimming, even when carefully done, leaves almost ten 
times as much. A further benefit is that, since the milk 
goes straight from pail to separator, the skim-milk can 
be fed to calves, pigs, or any young animal while fresh 
and sweet, and without warming. It is thus ever so much 
more wholesome than when beginning to sour. All that 
has been said of the care of milk-pails, strainers, and ves¬ 
sels generally applies with double force to the separator. 

Since the milk goes into it warm, the separated cream 
must be cooled and well aired as quickly as possible. The 
simplest way is to pour it in a small stream from one can 
into another set at least three feet lower, and repeat the 
process several times. A better way is to have a cream- 
cooler, shaped like a large colander, but with many very 
tiny holes all over the bottom. Set the cooler high above 
the can in a cool, clean, airy place. All milk-products taint 
so easily, the least ill-odour may mean serious loss, or pos¬ 
sible danger. Well-cooled cream keeps excellently at a 
temperature anywhere between forty and fifty degrees, 
It is important to have the temperature uniform. Fresh 
running water around the cans is always desirable. Un¬ 
less the cream from each milking can be kept to itself, 
stir up the cans thoroughly whenever fresh cream is put 
in. Twelve hours before churning, set the cream where 
the temperature will rise to seventy, adding a little sour 
cream, unskimmed sour milk, or even buttermilk, to 
start the souring. 




154 Household Rconomy [Chapter 


With a separator some form of revolving churn is al¬ 
most a necessity. Either the box or barrel shape an¬ 
swers—the main point is to have no inside fixtures, 
impossible to keep clean. Bring the cream to the right 
temperature, about sixty degrees, by setting it in hot or 
cold water as needed, before it goes into the churn. Turn 
the churn slowly for a minute, increasing gradually until 
it revolves very fast. Do not churn too long. Here 
experience alone must be the guide. There is a peculiar 
sound of the milk which lets one know when the butter 
has, in dairy parlance, “ come.” As soon as the butter- 
granules are the size of wheat-kernels, stop churning, 
throw in a little salt, and give the churn a few more whirls. 
Draw off the buttermilk through a hair-sieve so as to 
save all the butter-granules. Then put into the churn 
clean cold water, enough to cover the butter and set it 
floating. Draw off this water, and wash the butter again. 
Let neither wash-water stay too long in the churn upon 
pain of destroying the butter's finest aroma. 

To sterilise milk, strain cool new milk into a deep ves¬ 
sel, set the vessel in cold water, and let it stand six hours. 
Now pour off the upper half of the milk; the cream will 
have risen in it, making it extra rich. Fill clean, thick 
glass-bottles two-thirds full of this top-milk, stop their 
mouths with wisps of absorbent cotton, and set them in 
a biggish kettle, upon an inverted tin pie-plate driven full 
of holes. Fill the kettle until the water in it stands a 
little higher than the milk in the bottles, keep it at that 
height, and simmer for three hours. Six hours is better 
in hot weather. Let the bottles cool in the water. Keep 
them in a cool place, but not in contact with ice. If left 
unopened, the milk in them will keep sweet for a long 
time—a month in cold weather and a week in hot. But 
once the cotton is removed, the milk must be used quick¬ 
ly, as it absorbs from the air a new supply of bacteria to 
take the place of those killed by the boiling. 




i55 


Eig^] jTour^ooteti jfrtentis 

Care of Milk-Vessels 

Milk-vessels cannot possibly be scoured too much, but 
may well have too much soap used in the scouring. Soap, 
indeed, is somewhat out of place in dairy work. Instead 
use washing-soda, borax, boracic acid, and clean white 
sand. Wash anything milky first in cold water, never 
more than tepid. Hot water cooks and cakes the milk, 
and soap changes it to a slimy emulsion. Remove the 
milk thoroughly; then, to take away the greasy residue, 
wash and scrub well in water as hot as can be borne, with 
plenty of soda in it; then rinse in clear hot water, and dry 
with a clean towel. Once a week scald out everything 
with a strong solution of borax, after the washing and 
rinsing. Let the borax-water stand in the vessels till 
cold, then rinse in hot water, dry, and air. 

Use boracic acid in solution to rinse out milk-bottles, 
double-boilers, milk-bowls, feeding-bottles, and so on. 
It is also excellent for dairy towels and strainer-cloths. 
They should first be well washed with borax-soap, boiled, 
and wrung out. Cover them with the boracic-acid solu¬ 
tion, let stand five minutes, then rinse as usual. It is pos¬ 
sibly worth while to explain that, after many inventions, 
the best strainer for the private dairy has been found to 
be the tin-basin, open at bottom, with a double rim—the 
movable outer one for holding on the knitted cotton 
strainer-cloth, that is removed and washed after using. 

A Little Cow Sense 

A cow is simply a vitalised machine for turning vege¬ 
table food into milk and cream. That is one view of it— 
the commercial one. To run this machine profitably, she 
must be well fed and well milked. Unless she is milked 
clean each time, she will go back, in spite of the most 
generous feeding, and begin to put on flesh. Contrari- 



156 Household Economy [Chapter 


wise, the most faithful milking, the most conscientious 
milk-secretion on her part, will not give a good flow un¬ 
less she has wherewithal to evolve it from. Watery feed 
makes much milk and little cream. Dry feed, rich in fat, 
gives much cream proportionately, but little milk. In 
cow-keeping, more than almost anything else, with what 
measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you again. 

Good, wholesome milk comes from the udder in brisk 
whitish streams. If it is bloody, or yellow, or clotted, it 
is unfit for use. Do not save the milk for food until the 
calf is nine days old. Two weeks old is better, or even 
a month, if the cow does not seem to thrive. A cow has, 
and is entitled to have, her idiosyncrasies. If she shows 
a special antipathy to a place, person, or sort of food, ac¬ 
cept the fact at face-value; be sure there is a sufficient 
reason for it in her cowish mind. Antipathy to a milker 
may be sometimes overcome by steady kindness. If it 
persists, it is well to change either the milker or the cow. 
Similarly, a special fondness may be humoured. A cow 
with liberty to choose her own milker is apt to make re¬ 
turns for the liberty in banner yields at the pail. 

The Compost Heap 

Stable space predicates a bit of lawn and garden, or, at 
the very least, a plot of turf. Therefore make a compost 
heap. To do it handily, one needs a very light wheel¬ 
barrow and a box of either road-dust or sawdust, kept 
bone-dry. Stable-cleaning necessitates a fork and shovel. 
When the litter has been shaken and the manure swept 
up, or shovelled up, throw two or three spadefuls of the 
dust in the bottom of the wheelbarrow, then pile manure 
upon it, and take it to the heap. This should be under 
cover for the best results, but may be simply a corner of 
the inclosure. Lay down a floor of loose old boards, pile 
the barrowfuls upon it, heaping them slightly, and spread- 



Eight] jfour=jfootet> jfrientis 


i57 


ing them evenly, and cover as spread with either fresh 
clean earth or layers of road-side turf. If turf, turn it 
upside down; thus the fibres decay quicker. If upon 
wash-days the compost is soaked with the dirtiest suds, 
its fertilising value is almost doubled. Two well-fed ani¬ 
mals will furnish manure enough to make a fair-sized 
garden enormously rich, and leave something over for 
the grass. Always keep an upper layer of earth or sods. 
Otherwise the ammonia, the most valuable element, will 
escape into the air. 


Sick Animals 

Care, cleanliness, and kindness are the best possible 
medicine for animals of every sort. That is another way 
of saying that prevention is many million times better 
than cure for all sorts of animal ills. In the nature of 
things, diagnosis of such ills is more or less a matter of 
guess-work. With a valuable animal, lose no time in 
calling in the veterinary surgeon upon the first sign of 
serious sickness. But since competent vets are not al¬ 
ways, nor generally, within reach, it may be worth while 
to tell something of diseases, and remedies for them, 
which it is possible for any intelligent person to use. 

Colic, which may be caused by improper feeding, sud¬ 
den cold, or eating, or over-drinking while very hot, is 
distressing and dangerous, also in aggravated attacks so 
quickly fatal, it demands to be treated in time. A horse 
suffering from it rolls violently, gets up, flings him¬ 
self down, rolls, stretching all four legs straight and 
stiff afterward, and motions with his head toward the 
seat of pain. If the case is serious, he begins to swell. 
Whenever that happens, there is no time to lose. Bridle 
the animal, throw the reins over something higher than 
his head, and pull on them till his muzzle comes above 
his gullet. In this position drench him. For the violent 



Household Economy [Chapter 


.158 


swelling that indicates spasmodic colic, give a tablespoon¬ 
ful of chloroform in a pint of sweet milk. Put the drench 
in a long-necked bottle, force the bottle-neck in the ani¬ 
mal’s mouth, and pour its contents down his throat. If 
he refuses to swallow, keep his head up, and gently stroke 
the gullet. In a little while the liquid will go down. It 
is safe to calculate that half the drench will go to waste, 
and allow for that in its proportioning. Another good 
drench is turpentine and lard. Melt a pound of lard, just 
so it will run freely, and stir well through it a tablespoon¬ 
ful of turpentine. Warm the drench-bottle before put¬ 
ting in the lard. If there is no improvement within half- 
an-hour, drench again. Spring colic, caused by getting 
overheated in the first days of work, may usually be re¬ 
lieved with a drench of sweet milk and Irish potato. Peel 
a sound potato as big as the fist, grate it into the milk 
—the fresher the milk the better—and drench at once. 
Repeat within an hour if needed. After the first drench¬ 
ing, put a light boy upon the animal and let him ride it 
steadily at a brisk trot, resisting its efforts to lie down 
and roll. The great danger in colic is from intestinal 
obstruction, and motion helps to discharge the accumu¬ 
lation of gas. 

Botts, or grubs, which live in the stomachs of all horses, 
now and again attack the coats of the stomach, and begin 
gnawing through. Then only are they dangerous. At 
other times the wise men agree that they are harmless, 
if not positively beneficial. Anything which stops their 
gnawing cures the disease. Signs of it are great uneasi¬ 
ness, almost constant and violent rolling, with motions 
of the head toward the side, and sometimes bites over 
the stomach. All the colic-drenches are good for botts; 
the chloroform is perhaps most effectual. But a strong 
tea of worm-seed—Artemisia—is better if it can be had. 
Sweeten it well, preferably with molasses, and give milk- 
warm. Failing the worm-seed, a small bottle of almost 




Eight] jfour^jfooteti jfrtentis >59 


any good vermifuge, dissolved in warm sweetened water, 
will, nine times in ten, put botts to rout. 

After colic or botts it is well to give a few days’ rest, 
with light feed, and moderate purges every other night 
for a week. Mix a dram each of powdered rhubarb and 
powdered aloes with their own bulk of corn-starch, wet 
with syrup to a stiff mass, and divide the mass into three 
pills. Roll the pills while wet in powdered red-oak bark. 
Open the horse’s mouth wide, put the pill far back on 
his tongue, and hold his head up until he swallows it. 
Mix together an ounce of powdered copperas, a pint of 
salt, and a pint of clean hickory ashes. After the purge, 
keep this mixture where the horse can lick at will. 

Acute attacks make drenching imperative, but it must 
be done with understanding. If half the drench gets 
down the poor beast’s windpipe, he may be cured of 
colic to die later of lung-inflammation. If there is dry 
chloral at hand, wrap forty to sixty grains of it in soft 
paper, to form a sort of cartridge, open the horse’s mouth, 
and cram the cartridge down his gullet. This for des¬ 
perate colic. Where a course of medicine is required, 
give it either in mashes, in pills, or mixed in mild jelly, 
which can be laid well back on the tongue, and will be 
swallowed to get rid of it. Make the jelly of arrowroot, 
corn-starch, or oatmeal. Cook it thick, but take care not 
to burn it, and stir the medicine through it while hot. 
Oatmeal-gruel, very well cooked, slightly salted and 
given milk-warm, is excellent for an ailing horse, and not 
bad for a sound one. 

Feel a horse’s pulse at the artery under the upper point 
of the jaw. Normally it is slow, not more than forty- 
eight beats to the minute. Anything above sixty beats 
indicates fever, unless, of course, after exercise. To take 
a horse’s temperature, press a clinical thermometer 
against the skin under the jaws, shielding the thermome¬ 
ter with a well-crumpled cloth. Note where it stands, 



i6o 


Household Economy [Chapter 


then let it cool, and try it upon the nearest sound horse. 
The difference, if any, will show the degree of fever. 

Distemper and Pink-Eye 

Distemper is highly contagious. So is pink-eye. The 
minute either is suspected, isolate the sick animal, and 
fumigate the whole stable. The symptoms are redness 
of the eyes, especially about the inner corners, slight run¬ 
nings from eyes and nose, cough, fever, and swelling of 
glands beneath the throat. Country, especially south 
country, stablemen have faith that keeping goats in the 
stable is a sure preventive of distemper. The remedies 
for it are legion. Next to absolute rest, cleanliness, and 
protection from draughts, these are some of the best. 
Take equal quantities of inner bark from dogwood, wild 
cherry, red oak, and yellow poplar, dry it in the oven, 
powder, mix, and give two tablespoonfuls of the mixture 
in warm mash every night. A little oil-meal or flax-seed 
meal in the mash is soothing to the inflamed throat. Cut 
the hay fine, and steam it soft, but give plenty of it. Feed 
all grain in mashes, and once in three days give the oat¬ 
meal gruel. Every morning put a handful of live coals 
in a pan, hold the pan six inches from the horse’s nose, 
and throw a teaspoonful of flowers of sulphur on the 
coals. Hold the horse’s head, so he may get full sniffs 
of the smoke. Now and again, instead of sulphur, burn 
feathers or old leather, scraped fine, under his nose. The 
astringent smoke reaches the seat of the disease, and 
helps to heal and strengthen relaxed tissues. For the 
swollen glands, mix equal parts of turpentine, sweet oil, 
ammonia, and spirits of camphor, shake well, and apply 
with a feather all over the swelling. Repeat daily, and 
every other day wash the swelling with warm carbolic 
soap-suds. 



Eighi] jfour'jfooteti jfrtentJS 161 


Glanders 

Glanders, the most deadly of horse ills, is, in the initial 
stage, something like distemper. If, in spite of treat¬ 
ment, the discharge from the nose persists, becoming 
thick, purulent, and offensive, either call in a competent 
vet at once, or turn out the animal where it cannot pos¬ 
sibly infect others until the disease declares itself. Im¬ 
mediate death is the only kindness to a glandered horse. 
The disease is incurable, and fearfully infectious, attack¬ 
ing men as well as animals. The best thing to do with 
a stable much infected is to burn it outright. Where 
that is impracticable, remove and burn floors, mangers, 
and stall-partitions, scrape walls, fumigate with burning 
sulphur, then wash the whole place with the bi-chloride 
solution (see Disinfectants), and finish by applying two 
coats of strong carbolic whitewash, as near as possible 
boiling-hot. 

If a pasture has been infected, it should be at once 
ploughed up, and kept under plough for at least two 
years. A heavy liming before the ploughing will help 
to eradicate the disease. Dead animals should be 
burned if possible, and, failing that, buried at least ten 
feet deep. 

A Foot-Disease 

Scratches is a foot-ail, the penalty of ill-kept stables. 
The ankles swell and get raw, and the crown of the hoof 
itself grows tender. To cure scratches, give the animal 
a clean stall—a floor of fresh hard-packed earth is best— 
wash the feet well every morning with warm carbolic 
soap-suds, and grease the raw spots with neat’s-foot oil. 
Light work will help rather than hurt. Standing in stall, 
indeed, is one of the worst things possible. But do not 
drive through sand, nor over deep mud, and, upon com¬ 
ing in, wash the feet well, cleaning out the hoofs carefully, 



162 


Household Economy [Chapter 


rub them dry with soft cloths, and apply fresh oil. If there 
is much inflammation, mix a little strained tar with the 
oil; it should be a little thicker than cream. A handful 
of the bark-mixture (see Distemper) now and then in the 
feed will help. So will a sprinkle of Peruvian bark in the 
hay about once a week. Barks are nature’s tonics, which, 
in a state of nature, horses constantly administer to them¬ 
selves. 

Hoof-cracks have but one cure—absolute rest until the 
crack grows out. Incidentally, running at grass, with a 
very light plate nailed on below the crack, helps by pre¬ 
venting fresh cracking. Give generous feed in addition 
to the grass; the hoof-crack is generally more serious as 
an indication than a fact. A horse properly nourished 
and in perfect condition has tough elastic hoofs, unlikely 
to split under any reasonable strain. 

Shoeing a horse is no light matter. Nearly half of 
lameness and bad action comes from improper shoeing. 
Shoes need to be taken off every six weeks at the latest. 
But never allow a blacksmith to rasp down a hoof to fit 
his own idea of a shoe. A horse should be measured for 
his shoes as carefully as a man or woman. Let him run 
barefoot for, say, three months upon a good pasture, well 
turfed and free of rocks, so the hoofs will develop nor¬ 
mally. Then lay a sheet of paper under each foot, and 
with a pencil outline the feet accurately. Mark and num¬ 
ber them so there shall be no mistake. Keep the dia¬ 
grams, and insist that the shoes shall in future conform 
to them as nearly as possible. Horses get corns from 
bad shoeing, and, further, “ toe in,” or “ out,” in the 
effort to favour tortured feet. 

Seashore residents cannot do a better thing for them¬ 
selves nor their horses than to have the animals ridden 
knee-deep in the salt water for at least an hour every day 
between April and December. A pasture, inland or out- 
land, is better for having in it a clear pond, where horses 



Eight] jfour^jfoottti jfrtentis 


163 


can stand at ease, soaking their fevered feet. With nei¬ 
ther pond nor ocean available, bathe a horse’s feet and 
legs as high as the houghs well every morning in hot 
weather, and at least twice a week in cold. 

Wind-galls are bony enlargements upon or, rather, be¬ 
low the hough-joints. They are incurable, but may be 
much mitigated. Commonly they come from over-strain¬ 
ing, with standing still afterward to cool and stiffen. 
When there is much swelling and inflammation, bandage 
with flannels wrung out of hot water until the swelling 
is sensibly reduced, then rub dry, and apply turpentine 
liniment. (See Distemper.) Bathe the hough well with 
it, then bandage with dry soft flannel. Exercise the ani¬ 
mal twice a day; slow driving will not hurt if there is a 
light load. After a day or two, mix laudanum in the lini¬ 
ment, as much laudanum as there was turpentine. 

Splints need pretty much the same treatment. If they 
are severe, so big as to disable the beast, put on a bandage 
wet with turpentine, with a dry bandage outside, then 
iron with an iron just below scorching heat. Do not 
keep the iron on the splint too long. Raise it after a half¬ 
minute, and apply it again when the place has cooled a 
little. The turpentine vapour will most likely raise a blis¬ 
ter, which must be kept clean with carbolic soap-suds 
until healed. 

« 

Swinney, Spavin, Galls 

Swinney, which often originates in corns or some hurt 
to the feet, is a shrinking and wasting of the muscles, most 
commonly shoulder or quarter muscles, both pitiful and 
dangerous. Rest is the first essential of a cure. Perfect 
cures are, however, rare. The best treatment, which 
must go along with rest, generous diet, and sanitary sur¬ 
roundings, is hard rubbing twice a day with a stimulating 
liniment. To make it, take equal parts of spirits cam- 




164 Household Economy [Chapter 


phor, spirits ammonia, and apple-vinegar—the stronger 
the better. Mix, and shake hard before using. Rub it 
in first with the palm of the hand; then, when the surface 
is hot, with a block of wood covered with at least four 
thicknesses of flannel. Rub hard, but take care not to 
bruise. Run all down the leg to the crown of the hoof. 
Wash now and then in warm soap-suds, so as to keep the 
pores of the skin open. Turpentine ironed well in is also 
helpful in many cases. Aggravated ones require a seton 
at the point of the shoulder, but it needs a competent vet 
to put it in. 

Spavin, likewise, requires a counter-irritant treatment. 
The most that can be hoped for is to palliate it. Once it 
is well established, an animal always suffers more or less 
from it. Still, he may live to old age, and be fairly ser¬ 
viceable, if he gets reasonable care. Rubbing as for 
swinney is helpful. Six months at grass will check and, 
in a measure, cure both swinney and spavin in the incipi¬ 
ent stage, evidenced by a slight tenderness of the affected 
joint, a scarcely perceptible limp, and a tendency when 
at rest to stand tip-toe upon the sore foot. 

Fresh collar and saddle galls need to be washed clean, 
then covered with soft linen wet in the marigold or bal¬ 
sam-cumber infusion. (See Healing Simples.) Wet 
the linen two or three times, and leave it on for twelve 
hours. After that, with rest the galls will heal, leaving 
no lumpy enlargement to gall again. An old festering 
gall, already the size of a pigeon's egg, needs to be well 
washed in carbolic soap-suds every day, then to be anoint¬ 
ed with the elder-flower ointment. (See Healing Sim¬ 
ples.) If after a week it does not heal, sprinkle dry calo¬ 
mel over it, let it stay three hours, then wash off, and 
renew the ointment. But with galls, as everything else, 
the best cure is prevention. With harness and saddles 
properly cushioned and adjusted, galls are unknown. 




Ei s h ‘] jFour^dfootet) jFrtmtis 


i6 5 


Treatment for a Sick Cow 

A sick cow is among the hardest of domestic proposi¬ 
tions. Milk-fever, or apoplexy, which comes in the first 
two days after calving, is nearly always fatal. The signs 
of it are a chill, drooping head, and generally swelled 
appearance, especially in the udder, but with no flow of 
milk. The hind-quarters are insensible; they may be 
deeply pricked without making the cow flinch. Since 
the disease commonly attacks the best and deepest milk¬ 
ers, it is thought to be due to a perversion of that secre¬ 
tion. The best cure for it is prevention. Feed the cow 
well, but give nothing that is stimulating. Let her have 
free exercise almost up to the time of calving, keep her 
quiet at calving, and away from draughts or cold winds. 
Bed her well, and let her stand by good hay. The exer¬ 
tion of chewing it helps to keep up circulation, which is 
the essential thing. At the first symptom, send for the 
vet. He may come in vain, but let him come. 

Bloating is a more common ail, but one that should 
never exist. It is so easily preventible, loss from it is in¬ 
excusable. The cause of it is too rapid cropping of 
watery green stuff, especially young clover, with the dew 
or rain still on it. It is crowded into the outer of the 
cow’s many stomachs, ferments there, and sets free quan¬ 
tities of gas. Unless the gas-making is checked, or the 
cow relieved of the accumulation, she will die, and that 
very quickly. The simplest remedy is to drive the cow 
hard, keeping her running until she is ready to drop. 
The exercise calls the blood from the stomach and, in a 
measure, checks the development of gas. With a badly 
swollen animal, the only thing is to stick a keen knife into 
the animal’s side, between right hip and shoulder, so as 
to barely pierce the outer stomach, and let the gas escape. 
This, however, requires greater nerve and knowledge 




i66 


Household Economy [Chapter 


than most amateur dairymen possess. Unless the knife 
goes in just the right place, it may mean death. 

A drench of turpentine and lard (see Colic) will save 
five cases in ten of bloat, unless they have gone too far. 
But it is much better to keep cattle off wet clover, also 
to accustom them to green food, by letting them run on 
grass only a little while at a time, gradually lengthening 
the pasture hours. Thus they are not so sharp-set for 
green stuff as to harm themselves with it. 

A lousy cow, and especially a lousy calf, will never 
thrive. Clear off vermin by washing well with larkspur 
soap-suds (see Insecticides), using them very hot, and 
sprinkling either powdered larkspur or flowers of sulphur 
lightly through the hair along the back-bone. Do not 
put on the sulphur in rainy weather even if the cow is well 
stabled. In hot dry weather, mix a handful of sulphur 
well through a peck of road-dust, and dash it by shovel¬ 
fuls all over the cow, after the morning milking. Brush 
it well off before beginning to milk at night. Rub back 
of the ears and between the horns with a bacon-rind 
dipped lightly in sulphur. Those are almost the only 
portions of the cow’s anatomy she cannot reach with her 
tongue or her hind-feet, so there the vermin harbour. 

To prevent a caked bag, milk the cow clean six hours 
after calving, and wash the udder well in clean hot water 
after milking. Wipe it dry, then rub and knead it gently 
with the hand, taking care not to bruise or pinch it, nor to 
bear hard upon swollen tender spots. But keep at it for 
at least ten minutes. If there are no hard places, wait 
twelve hours before milking again. But if there are swoll¬ 
en spots, especially in the hinder part, milk clean again in 
six hours, wash and knead the udder as before, and rub 
the swollen spots well with a clean bacon-rind. Some¬ 
times a bad cake may be avoided by milking the sound 
teats very clean, then letting the calf get at the sore ones. 
A vigorous and hungry youngster will hunch away lumps 




Ei s ht ] jfour^ooteti jfrtentis 


167 


no self-respecting cow would allow the milker to handle. 
If the udder is kept clean and free from the start, the 
inflammation soon goes down of itself. 

Scratches, abrasions, and tender teats can be cured with 
the marigold infusion. (See Healing Simples.) Wash 
the udder very well before milking when the marigold is 
used. It is sovereign for snags and wounds of all sorts. 
Chaps commonly yield to beeswax mixed with olive-oil to 
a very soft salve. Rub it between the palms until creamy, 
and grease teats and udder well after milking. Wash off 
the salve once a day with tepid soap-suds, and dry the 
udder well before letting the air strike it. 

If for any reason it is desirable to dry up a flow of milk, 
as a mare or farrow-cow, grease the udder every morning 
with salty grease; the fat from breakfast bacon is excel¬ 
lent. Every other day rub the udder very well with a 
bacon-rind. Do not milk unless painfully distended; even 
then do not milk clean. Give dry feed rather sparingly 
for a day or two, leaving off mashes, roots, fruit, and 
fresh-cut grass. As soon as the milk-flow diminishes 
sensibly, increase the ration, but keep it for the most part 
dry, until milk-giving ceases. 




Chapter NINE 

^ets an* ^oultrp 

E VERYBODY is the better for some sort of 
pet, a plant, a bird, or a four-footed compan¬ 
ion. This even when there are children in 
the house to keep hearts soft, and sensibilities 
fresh. Children themselves, in caring for their 
pets, get a liberal education in forethought, as well as 
a working knowledge of rudimentary sanitation. Still, 
in the judgment of this writer, the late Colonel Waring 
spoke truth in saying: “ A dog in a city is a dog out of 
place.” Notwithstanding, since there are so many dogs 
in cities, it must be told how they can best be kept healthy 
and happy. 

Dogs and Dogs 

There are always dogs and dogs. Very much depends 
on the choice of them, which in turn should depend large¬ 
ly upon the prospective environment. Manifestly a big 
dog—St. Bernard, Newfoundland, mastiff, even a grey¬ 
hound, or Irish or Gordon setter—is a mistake, artisti¬ 
cally and materially, among the furnishings of a cramped 
city flat. Such a beast needs at least an acre of ground 
to save him from being, as artists say, “ out of drawing.” 
Contrariwise, a fluffy spaniel, a lithe toy terrier, or fox- 
terrier, or a natty pug, will look very much in place. 

Whatever the dog, his treatment is largely a matter 
of don’ts. Don’t keep him too close; don’t over-feed; 
don’t over-bathe; don’t make him miserably fine; don’t 

168 



Nine] ^tS atltl ^OUltlJ) 


169 


let him lie in draughts; don’t let him suffer from fleas; 
don’t wash him, if he needs washing, with any sort of yel¬ 
low soap—the resin of it sticks in his hair, furring it all up; 
don’t let him go too long without water—let him drink 
whenever he pleases; lastly, don’t feed him the same thing 
day in, day out. Give him the wholesome variety a hu¬ 
man palate demands. 

Dog biscuit is very well indeed, but should not be 
fed oftener than once a day. Once every other day is 
better. In between give table-scraps, oat-meal porridge 
and milk, pure milk, corn-meal cooked to mush in meat 
gravy, and, along with all of them, bones. A very little 
raw meat now and then is good, especially for a dog weak 
and spiritless. A small house-dog needs but one hearty 
feed daily; give it about two o’clock, after a light break¬ 
fast. Hunger is the root of much dog-mischief, where¬ 
fore feed a dog which runs about outdoors most of the 
time, two or three times a day. Give him what he will 
eat up clean. If he leaves food in the dish, diminish the 
ration one-half until he appears sharp-set. Do not let 
food stand where he can return to it again and again. 
Good, hard solid bones are the exception. A dog can 
gnaw at such until he is tired, yet do himself no harm. 
Small bones, as of game and fowl, must be fed with dis¬ 
cretion; they may stick in the throat or intestines, with 
fatal results. 

Fleas are prime dog-pests. To rid a dog of them, 
muzzle him well, then wash him thoroughly with tepid 
water and either carbolic or larkspur soap. (See Chapter 
on Insecticides.) While he is in the water, comb him 
carefully all over with the coarsest make of fine-tooth 
comb. This will bring away the half-drowned fleas, 
which the water will finish. Wash out the tub well, then 
rinse the dog clean of even the smell of soap, rub him dry 
with coarse cloths, and keep him out of draughts for a 
couple of hours. Let him stay muzzled for that space of 




Household Economy [Chapter 


time, so he cannot lick his coat until it is thoroughly 
aired. When there is no longer a suspicion of dampness 
on the skin, part the hair along the back-bone and be¬ 
tween and behind the ears, and blow into it, with tiny 
bellows, a light coat of flowers of sulphur. 

For mange, bathe with sulphur soap, and, after drying, 
rub the affected spots with flowers of sulphur stirred 
well through fresh unsalted butter. Wash all trace of 
milk out of the butter before putting in the sulphur. 
This ointment is good for all sorts of skin troubles, but 
where a dog or any sort of pet is seriously affected, no 
time should be lost in consulting a veterinary surgeon. 

A dog-house, or kennel, should be whitewashed inside 
and out with cellar whitewash. (See Chapter on Restora¬ 
tions.) Add to it either enough flowers of sulphur to 
make it faintly yellow, or carbolic acid in the proportion 
of half-a-pint, twenty-five per cent, strength, to the gallon 
of wash, or else use larkspur water (see Insecticides) in 
the whitewash. Any or all of these will make the white¬ 
wash a good preventive of both vermin and dampness. 

Give a dog exercise in even the coldest weather. If he 
runs at will, he need not be clothed. If the walking must 
be a slow dress-parade, put on a warm blanket, and see 
that it sits snug. In warm weather, the more a dog is 
outdoors the better. But, when it is very hot, do not 
forget to provide shade. This is especially necessary for 
watch-dogs, particularly if they are chained up. A 
watch-dog ought to be taught to refuse food or drink 
from anyone but his regular keeper. Thus only is one 
able to guard against malicious poisoning, or that which 
might be attempted with thievish intent. 

Dogs perspire only through the tongue, but do not 
on that account need less water. Keeping water always 
accessible is thought by many to be the best preventive 
of rabies. True rabies is, however, a rare disease. Ig¬ 
norant fear magnifies into it all sorts of dog ailments; 



Ni ne] $ets anti poultry 


sometimes nothing more fearful than that the dog is hot, 
thirsty, tired, and lost. Any dog in such case will snap 
at his tormentors. In case a dog is suspected of mad¬ 
ness, never kill it summarily. Instead, confine it where 
it can do no possible harm, and keep it under observation 
for at least two weeks. Thus in nine cases out of ten the 
“ madness ” will be shown to be something quite distinct. 
Nerve-specialists agree-that where true rabies has slain 
its hundreds, pseudo-rabies, self-induced by brooding 
fears, has slain its thousands. The fact makes it all the 
more imperative to call in a veterinary at need. Failure 
to do so is, indeed, little short of criminal, especially in 
the case of a dog well-beloved, and a populous com¬ 
munity. 

Care of Cats 

Cats are by nature dainty, even in their cruelties. 
There is all manner of feline grace in the way they play 
with mice. Cats suffer much less from constant housing 
than dogs, although they run wild much more readily, 
and never quite get over their murderous instincts. A 
cat of fancy breed, as Maltese, Angora, Coon-cat, or 
Manx, is a possession more fashionable than precious. 
Each and several, they are no end decorative, but in af¬ 
fection, intelligence, and playfulness, they rank below 
their black, and grey, and tiger-marked, and tortoise¬ 
shell brethren. 

White cats are in general more savage and less intelli¬ 
gent than grey or tortoise-shell. Many white cats have 
blue eyes, and all such are said to be stone-deaf. Hence 
they are less desirable in the house. Unlike dogs, cats 
require to have their meat raw. They must not have 
too much of it. Milk should constitute at least a third 
of their food. Crumble stale bread in the milk, and now 
and again beat up a raw egg in it. A bit of raw liver, as 
big as two fingers, or a fish-head, is meat enough for a 




172 


Household Economy [Chapter 


day’s ration. Supplement it with milk and bread, or 
milk and mashed potatoes, a cracker or two, or a bit of 
hard bread, lightly buttered, and a few small bones, as 
from chicken, game, or chops. 

Cats, as well as dogs, suffer a plague of fleas. Oddly 
enough, cat-fleas are unlike dog-fleas; if the two sorts 
of insects meet upon one poor beast, there is a fight to a 
finish, ending commonly in victory for the cat fleas. 
They are bigger and more voracious than the dog fleas. 
If left to ravage unchecked, they soon reduce a sleek 
healthy cat to a miserable skeleton, suffering all over from 
eczema. To get rid of the fleas, wash with sulphur-soap 
—any good brand which the nearest shop affords—comb 
out the fleas with a fine-tooth comb while the hair is still 
wet, then rinse the cat in milk-warm water, dry it with 
soft towels, and give it after the bath a saucer of warm 
milk with a teaspoonful of brandy or whisky in it. A 
kitten should have only a few drops of spirits, and be 
kept snug in a clean basket an hour after the bath. When 
the hair is very dry, blow in all along the back-bone some 
sort of good very fine insect-powder, either larkspur (see 
Insecticides) or pyrethrum. Rub behind the ears with 
the sulphur ointment directed for dogs. Next day brush 
out all the powder with a fine close brush, comb the coat 
lightly, then part it along the back-bone, and rub with 
the sulphur ointment. For mange, rub all over with the 
sulphur ointment, keep the cat confined so it cannot lie 
in the dirt, and, after twenty-four hours, wash it well in 
hot soap-suds, just comfortably hot, not scalding, rinse 
dry, and leave alone. In three days, if the mange per¬ 
sists, repeat the ointment and the after treatment. Give 
the cat meantime plenty of catnip, either green or dry, 
with a milk-and-bread diet. Catnip, indeed, ought to be 
given always twice a week. Burn infected bedding, and 
fumigate sleeping-baskets, or else wash them well over 
in bichloride of mercury. (See Disinfectants.) Let 



Nine] $ets anli -poultry 


173 


stand six hours after washing, then scald plentifully with 
boiling water, and dry well before letting the cat sleep 
there. 

Cleanliness, the first commandment for keeping all 
manner of pets, applies with special force in the case of 
white rabbits, Belgian hares, and cavies, known otherwise 
as guinea-pigs. All these can be kept in very confined 
quarters; still, it is better not to venture upon them unless 
one has at least a back-yard. All are vegetable-feeders, 
and live largely upon green stuff. A hutch three feet 
square and as many deep, with a wire-net front, suffices 
to shelter a pair of such animals, and a run, six feet long 
by three feet wide, in front of the hutch affords sufficient 
exercise. Unless the run can be changed daily so as to 
admit of cleaning, it is best to have hutch and run floored 
with movable boards, and take up and clean them once in 
two days. Keep the floor plentifully littered with saw¬ 
dust, and sweep it well before lifting the boards to wash 
and scald them. 

The hutch is best whitewashed inside and out. Keep 
in the run a shallow trough for water, and see that it is 
always full. Feed three times a day; once with grain, 
as corn, oats, or barley; once with green stuff, as carrot, 
or beet-tops, cabbage-leaves, new-cut grass or clover, 
pea-vines, or steamed clover-hay. For the third meal, 
give potatoes, either Irish or sweet; apples, apple-par¬ 
ings, beets, sweet turnips, or carrots. Scatter the feed 
upon the floor of either run or hutch, and give all that 
will be eaten clean. Does, suckling young, should have 
feeds in between. 

To prevent vermin, dust the animals once a week with 
either corn-starch or prepared chalk, finely powdered, 
and mixed with one-third its own bulk of flowers of sul¬ 
phur. Keep the small beasts out of rain for a day or two 
after the application. The hutch should have a sliding- 
door easily worked, and there should be also a sort of 




i74 Household Economy [Chapter 


tent to shelter the run either from rain or from a broiling 
sun. 

With confined quarters, do not keep too many of such 
pets. If permitted to breed, a single pair will soon over¬ 
run any reasonable space. Sell or give away the surplus. 
There is ever so much more pleasure in a single pair of 
well-bred, well-kept pets than in a yardful, ragged, weedy, 
and degenerate. 

Singing-Birds 

No really humane person will keep a wild singing-bird 
in captivity. Canaries, and other cage-bred sorts, which 
cannot live outside, are admissible. But larks, red-birds, 
and especially mocking-birds—how shall one protest 
strongly enough against the cruelty of their confinement! 
Mocking-birds in particular have to be taken from the 
nest just as they are feathered. A mocker full grown 
will not sing in captivity; more, it will beat out its brains 
against bars, and, given the opportunity, poison its stolen 
young to save them from prison. 

But, since conscience does not always prevail, there are 
mockers, red-birds, otherwise known as cardinals, and 
other wild-wood songsters held behind bars. All such 
should have wide, roomy cages, with roughish round 
perches, as nearly as possible like natural twigs. They 
should be fed clean sound grain—cracked corn, cracked 
oats, also wheat and millet. The best way to give wheat 
and millet is to hang a bunch of heads in the cage, con¬ 
venient to a perch. Do the same thing with ripe okra- 
pods, heads of chickweed, and lettuce; indeed, any sort 
of seed-head upon which the free mockers and red-birds 
feed. Give also every day bits of ripe apple, tender 
greens, either lettuce, cress, or pepper-grass, and at least 
a dozen freshly killed flies, crickets, or grass-hoppers. In 
winter a bit of bark full of eggs, slipped in the cage, fur¬ 
nishes a treat. Still, summer and winter the main reli- 




Nine] ipetsi anti ^oultrp -75 


ance for food, aside from grain and seed, is the mixture 
of egg and Irish potato. Boil the egg at least twenty 
minutes, the potato until it bursts its jacket. Peel the 
potato, and mash while very hot, sprinkling it very lightly 
with cayenne pepper. Mash the yolk of egg fine, and 
mix it through the hot potato. Wash the feed-cup clean 
before putting in the fresh food. Wash also the bath 
and the drinking-cup. Take out the paper from the bot¬ 
tom of the cage every day, wash the gravel on it clean, 
and spread back upon a fresh paper. 

Never hang a cage-bird of any sort in a draught. But 
mockers and their sort do well upon sheltered piazzas in 
summer weather. Their cages may well have half-an- 
hour’s sun, at morning or evening, but should never get 
the full noon strength of it. 

Canary Birds 

In choosing a canary, look for a long-bodied bird with 
thick plumage lying close and smooth. The long body 
indicates vitality. Only male birds sing—the female’s 
notes are few, and often rasping. Plumage depends 
largely upon breed. If it is gorgeously high-coloured, 
the bird will have to be specially fed at moulting-time to 
keep up the colour. There is an almost endless variety 
of coat. German canaries, either Andreasburg or Hartz 
Mountain, come in deep yellow, light yellow, greeny yel¬ 
low, mottled, and are, further, both crested and plain. 
They are nearly all fine singers, though less decorative 
than the Norwich canaries, whose reddish-yellow coats 
are due to liberal feeding with cayenne pepper through¬ 
out the season of moulting. 

Year-old birds are most satisfactory. Under that age 
they have seldom been taught properly to sing. Seven 
to ten years is the average, though many birds live until 
past twenty. Much depends upon the individual, but 



176 


Household Economy [Chapter 


more upon the care received. If it is wholly loving care, 
the chances of long life are doubled. 

Train canaries to use without abusing an open cage- 
door. Thus they give and receive double pleasure. The 
cage is the place for food and sleep. Other times Master 
Yellowbreast is better for the freedom of the room. If 
he is properly tamed, and never handled roughly nor too 
much, he will be safe in it no matter how many open win¬ 
dows tempt him. The right sort of cage is important. 
It must be altogether of metal; wood invites vermin. It 
must, further, be light and airy-looking, with a bottom 
easily removed, movable perches, and a door that works 
easily but will stay shut when required. Bath, water, and 
seed-cups must be of good size, but not too big. A 
vagrant-minded bird may indulge himself in a bath in the 
drinking-vessel if by any chance he can squeeze half of 
himself inside it. If the cage is to hang above a carpet, 
it is well to have a widely flaring bottom so as to catch 
the seed or water the bird flings out of bounds. 

A canary-cage should never be hung outdoors, in a 
draught, nor where direct heat-rays stream upon it. Nei¬ 
ther must it stand or hang where it is cold. Canaries are 
by nature tropical, and revel in a steady even warmth. 
Cold and over-feeding are their chief dangers. A little 
care puts both to rout. Feed a healthy bird seed mixed 
thus: Four parts canary-seed, three parts German rape, 
two parts Indian millet, and one part Turkish maw seed. 
All the seed should be fresh, of last year’s growth, and 
pure. German rape is adulterated often with both tur¬ 
nip and black mustard seed. To test it for such adul¬ 
teration, chew a dozen seeds. The true rape is sweetish, 
turnip-seed bites the tongue, and mustard-seed has the 
unmistakable mustard flavour. Canary-seed, which 
comes from Sicily, is firm and shiny when fresh—if it 
does not shine, reject it—it means staleness. The mil¬ 
let and maw seed are less apt to be old. Maw seed, by 




Nine] $ets anli ^poultry 


177 


the way, is seed of the opium-poppy, but lacks wholly 
the narcotic properties of the milky juice which runs out 
when the seed-heads are cut, and, after it hardens, is 
gathered as opium. 

Hemp-seed should be given very, very sparingly; it is 
so fattening it causes the bird to moult out of season, and 
hence to stop singing. Sugar and cake are objectionable 
for the same reason, though both may be given now and 
then by way of reward for an especially sweet song. Still, 
a bit of ripe apple or fig, either fresh or dry, is better, and 
quite as much relished by the chorister. Every day sus¬ 
pend something green in the cage—either lettuce, chick- 
weed, dandelion, watercress, pepper-grass, or plantain. 
Take care that none of the greens have grown near poi¬ 
son-weeds; a very little poison makes an end of a bird. 
A small pod of cayenne pepper, with leave to pick out 
seeds of it at will, is not only a treat to canaries, but to 
any sort of cage-birds, and also helps to keep them 
well. 

A little hard-boiled egg-yellow, lightly dusted with 
cayenne, is good for canaries, say, once a week or once 
a fortnight. Once a week is best if they are rearing 
young, also in the moulting season. Keep a cuttle-fish 
bone always within reach. This supplies what salt the 
bird needs, besides affording lime to repair bone-waste 
and build up egg-shells. If a bird looks droopy, and the 
cage-bottom shows signs of diarrhoea, pour boiling water 
upon twenty grains of unground black pepper, steep to 
a strongish tea, then soak a bit of stale bread in the tea, 
and feed the bird with it. Another way is to dust a strip 
of very fat salt pork with ground pepper, either black or 
cayenne, and hang it in the cage, letting the bird eat his 
fill of it. 

Fill the bath every morning; the bird will decide 
whether or no he needs a bath. In cold weather take the 
chill off the water, and if the bird picks himself, pecking 




178 


Household Economy [Chapter 


out feathers, put several drops of rose-water in the bath. 
If the picking keeps on until there are bare places, rub 
them over with the sulphur ointment, flowers of sulphur 
and fresh butter in equal parts, and use the rose-water 
every day. Rub in the ointment very lightly, touching 
only the affected spots, the spaces just underneath the 
wings where they leave the body, and the back of the 
neck. 

Canaries, indeed, all cage-birds, suffer occasionally 
from caked oil-glands. The oil-gland is situated just at 
the root of the tail, and from it a healthy bird each day 
dresses his plumage. If by any chance the oil hardens 
in it, it at once makes the bird ill. He sits quiet and 
droopy upon his perch, not with hanging wings to be 
sure, but looking as though, like Lancelot of the Lake, 
he were disgusted with “ love, life, all things.” Take 
him gently in the hand, blow apart the feathers at the root 
of the tail, and look at the oil-gland. If it is swollen and 
inflamed, press it very gently, but do not try to force the 
caked oil violently out. That will almost certainly kill 
the bird. Drop warm soap-suds gently upon the gland, 
using a medicine dropper, then dry it with a soft hand¬ 
kerchief, and apply a very little vaseline. Next day ex¬ 
amine again, and repeat the treatment, keeping it up day 
after day until the softened gland frees itself. 

Do not let a canary's claws grow too long; thence come 
many ills. But trim them discreetly. Hold the bird 
gently, so light shines through the claw. Thus the tiny 
vein in it will be plain to view. Cut so as to miss the vein. 
If, accidentally, it is touched, hold the foot in warm water 
until bleeding ceases. 

Birds sing best if kept away from strong light. Canary- 
birds should never be hung near the open upper-half of 
a window. Miss Virginia Pope, the greatest authority 
on the care of cage-birds, kept a canary in good condition 
until twenty-one years old by feeding it and treating it 



Nine] $ets anti ^oultrp 


179 


much as here set down, and never letting it be hung 
outside. 

In breeding canaries, keep the male away from the nest 
after brooding begins. He might possibly make no 
trouble, but the chances are that he would drive away his 
wife, and addle the eggs hopelessly. After the young 
birds hatch, let both parents care for them. Provide 
fresh soft food twice a day—hard-boiled egg-yolk, mashed 
with bread-crumbs soaked in milk, scraped apple, soaked 
fig, or very ripe berries. All this in addition to plenty of 
seed and bird-manna for an hour each day. The bird- 
manna can be bought at any good drug-store. Get 
thence packages of bird-gravel, both red and white. The 
red supplies iron; the white, sharp fine grit, to help in 
grinding up seeds. Buy also bird-bitters; there are sev¬ 
eral good sorts. Administer them in homoeopathic doses 
by putting two drops in the drinking-fountain every other 
day. 

Beware of mites, particularly in the breeding season. 
Scald out the breeding-cage well before the birds go in 
it, and also scald the nest-cup as soon as the young birds 
flutter out of it. Indeed, as soon as the young can hop, 
or even be lifted with impunity, it is well to put the whole 
family in a fresh newly cleaned domicile. The mites are 
small crawling things, almost invisible to the naked eye. 
They would be quite invisible but for their colour—a 
bright cochineal red. They leave the birds at night, and 
crawl back just before daylight. This habit is, in a way, 
the bird’s salvation. If a bird is infested, set the cage 
upon a table, and throw a breadth of Canton flannel, 
woolly side down, all over it, then darken the room com¬ 
pletely, and leave it for three hours. Take off the flannel 
quickly, and souse it in boiling water. Do this several 
times. After a day or two, cover the cage all night, and 
whisk off the flannel just before daybreak. Never wait 
a minute to scald it; the mites scamper and scatter at a 




i8o 


Household Economy [Chapter 


great rate, and will harbour in human hair if they get the 
chance. Take the bird from the cage, blow its feathers 
lightly apart, and dust it with a good insect-powder. 
Scald the cage well with boiling carbolic soap-suds, then 
with clear water, and dry it either on the range or in the 
sun before putting the bird back. While getting rid of 
mites, it is a good plan to put in hollow perches, with 
holes cut close underneath where the birds roost. The 
mites crawl thickly inside these holes. Take out the 
perches before daybreak, and scald them for half-an-hour. 
This kills mites and eggs—a most important considera¬ 
tion. If an infected cage can be left empty for some time, 
it is an excellent plan to scald it with bi-sulphide of mer¬ 
cury (see Insecticides and Disinfectants), let it stand a 
day and night, then scald again in clear water, and leave 
to air for a week. After such treatment, any all-metal 
cage will be clean of mites and infective taints. 

The Care of Parrots 

It is a very open question as to whether or no parrots 
are altogether desirable pets. Still, for people who like 
that sort of thing, no other thing is quite so satisfactory. 
Parrots are of many sorts. The grey Africans are said 
to talk best, but the white scarlet-headed fellows, and 
those which are symphonies in green and yellow and scar¬ 
let, are very much more pleasing to the eye. In a state 
of nature parrots eat fruit, nuts, seeds, and, very occa¬ 
sionally, animal food. In captivity, they learn readily to 
cry and call for whatever is eaten and drunk in their sight. 
Still, it is not always wise to indulge them. In the main, 
they should be fed upon nuts, fresh, sound, and newly 
cracked, ear-corn, all manner of fresh fruit, with a very 
little raw beef or mutton, mostly fat, cut in bits as big 
as the end of the finger, and given not oftener than once 
in three days. 



Nine] anti -poultry 


181 


An occasional cricket or grasshopper does no harm. 
Neither does a swallow of coffee every morning. Coffee 
is a beverage of which most parrots become quickly very 
fond. In addition to the coffee, keep fresh water where 
the bird can always get at it. Keep a bath for it likewise 
always ready, and let it be its own judge of the need for 
it. A very tame bird may be allowed to give itself a 
dust-bath outdoors in the height of summer. Sprinkle 
a little sulphur on the dust before Polly begins wallowing 
in it. Parrots are not very subject to lice, but it is well 
to be on the safe side. Keep everything about the bird— 
perch, cage, and bath—clean and sweet. Empty food- 
vessels daily, and permit nothing eatable to be messed 
over, and dragged about the floor. If possible, give the 
parrot wider freedom than the cage. Some birds are ami¬ 
able, even loving. The most part have tempers of their 
own, and do not scruple to show them. They should 
never be left loose in the room with children, especially 
without the presence of a grown person. Parrots are 
very jealous, and might inflict serious injury upon a baby 
or very young child. They have also a mischievous de¬ 
light in nipping bare toes and ankles, often bringing the 
blood, and laughing impishly to see it. Altogether they 
are uncanny creatures, given to violent and jealous loves, 
and still more violent hates. If they needs must be kept 
constantly caged, see that the cage is big enough, and 
also that it is provided with a swinging-ring, or swinging- 
perch, to give Mistress Polly proper exercise. 



No matter how much care and trouble one is ready to 
endure, it is out of the question to think of poultry-keep¬ 
ing without a few square yards of outdoors. The square 
yards may be mostly inclosed or built over, but they must 
be outside the human habitat. With only a back-yard, 



182 Household Economy [Chapter 


and a right-of-way out of it other than through the house, 
one may keep half-a-dozen hens, or even raise a brood of 
early broilers. Half-an-acre gives reasonable space for 
much more extensive operations. With five acres, or 
even three, a populous poultry-yard is easily possible. 
Even then, turkeys must be left out of the count, or else 
the whole space given up to them. They will not thrive 
in narrow boundaries, do what one may. So much of 
native wildness still inheres in the birds of Thanksgiving. 

As to Hens 

Where eggs, fresh eggs, can be sold at twenty-five 
cents a dozen the year round, egg-production pays better 
than raising broilers. The Mediterranean breeds—Black 
Spanish, Minorcan, White and Brown Leghorns—are the 
hens for it. Grades between a pure-blood cock of any 
of these breeds and good native hens lay nearly as well 
as the pure bloods, besides being cheaper and hardier. 
The first cost will be two-thirds less, and the expense of 
keeping something greater, as the grades are stouter feed¬ 
ers than the full-bloods. Fifty hens may be kept, and 
well kept, in a house eight feet wide, twenty feet long, 
four feet high at the back, which should face the north, 
and seven feet high in front, which should face the south. 
Have three six-light sashes set to slide in the front wall, 
with underneath the middle one a hole, closed with a 
sliding-panel, for the hens to pass in and out. Make the 
entrance-door at one end—the east end if possible. Have 
a double row of perches across the back, with a twelve- 
inch board below to catch the droppings. Clean these 
boards every morning. If they are movable, the clean¬ 
ing is easier. Save the manure; it is worth twice as much 
as stable manure, especially for orchard-trees and aspara¬ 
gus-beds. Have the floor of hard-beaten earth, thrown 
up six inches higher than the ground outside. In winter 





Nine] 


$ets anti poultry 


183 


lay loose boards over the clay, and keep the whole space 
well littered with chaff, cut straw, or fine shavings. Every 
three months whitewash the whole inside, using sulphur, 
or larkspur, or carbolic acid in the whitewash. Keep in 
a corner, where the sunlight will strike it, a box of dry 
dust or ashes for the hens to wallow in, and sprinkle the 
dust, once a week, with an ounce of flowers of sulphur. 

Make the nest-boxes along the front wall, close to the 
floor, but not resting upon it. Let the hen-hole divide 
them. Hens are kittle cattle, and, somehow, seem sus¬ 
picious of nests all in a row. They are also freakish—a 
dozen often fighting to lay in the same nest, with twenty 
empty ones in sight. The best way to prevent such freaks, 
which end in broken eggs, and they in turn in egg-eating, 
is to keep the nests invitingly full of clean bright straw, 
with one or even two artificial nest-eggs in each box. 
The artificial eggs can be bought cheaply, but may be 
made still more cheaply by filling empty egg-shells with 
plaster of Paris. 

The Fowl Run 

Such a house should be built and fully equipped inside 
of fifty dollars. The next thing is the run. Make it the 
full breadth of the house, and as long as convenient. 
Fence it down either side with seven-foot wire-netting, 
stoutly staked. If the end is a boundary, it had better 
be paled across or picketed. There must be a gate, 
tight-fitting, and provided with a lock, “ in the end fence”. 
Down the middle of the run set a row of fruit-trees. 
Shade in summer is imperative. Plum-trees thrive best, 
or, rather, they give a good shade, and the hens help 
them to fruit well by eating up curculio droppings. At 
least three times a year have the run either ploughed up 
or spaded up, and seeded thickly with some sort of small 
grain. Rye is best in the fall, about the first of Septem- 




184 


Household Economy [Chapter 


ber, followed by oats in March, and millet in June. Spread 
the hen manure on the run before ploughing, if it can 
be spared from other uses. The thicker and more lux¬ 
uriant the green growth, the more eggs and the healthier 
hens. 

With two or three houses and runs, if there is ground 
outside, it pays to seed it the same way as the runs, and 
let the hens, or any sort of fowls, pasture it. Where mix¬ 
ing breeds is undesirable, turn out the inhabitants of one 
run at a time. Green stuff plucked thus from the roots 
goes a long way toward keeping hens healthy. Hens lay 
best in the second year. Spring pullets well kept will 
furnish eggs in plenty from Christmas forward. None 
of the specific laying breeds can be trusted to sit. They 
become broody, but if given nests of eggs, leave them 
after a day or so, and go larking off with the rest. If it 
is desirable to raise chickens as well as eggs, some other 
breed must be kept, or else an incubator put in. 

Feed laying hens thus confined three times a day. In 
the morning with soft food—as corn-meal, wheat mid¬ 
dlings, wheat-bran, and oatmeal boiled together to a 
thick mush. If there is milk to go in the mush, all the 
better. Lacking it, there should be about five per cent, 
of beef-scraps added. If ground bones can be had per¬ 
fectly fresh, put in two per cent, of them additionally. 
Feed what the hens will eat clean. Several small troughs, 
or basins, are better than one large one. After the feed¬ 
ing, take out the troughs and clean them. At dinner 
give the hens a feed of whole grain—cracked corn, oats, 
wheat-screenings, millet-seed, with an armful of good hay 
to peck and pick over. Scatter the grain on the floor so 
as to give exercise in scratching it out from among the 
litter. At night give more soft food, but dry, rather than 
in mush, with either apples, potatoes, or cabbage, or even 
chopped clover-hay, boiled soft in it. Give also, some 
time in the day, fresh apples, or mangle-wurzel beets. 



Nine] atll) 


i»S 


Cut the beets in quarters, and throw them in; the hens 
will peck out the tender parts without fouling them, as 
would be the case with smaller pieces. 

If raising eggs for hatching, as with fancy breeds, make 
the house smaller, and keep no more than a dozen hens 
in a place. Two cocks will suffice for that number. In 
an ordinary yard, a cock to eight hens is enough. Keep 
pounded oyster-shells or lime where all the fowls can peck 
in it, also plenty of ground bone, on pain of having to 
gather soft-shelled eggs. Further, give fowls of every 
sort a full supply of clean gravel. 

Broilers—Ducks and Chickens 

To raise broilers pure and simple, either ducks or 
chickens, it is often best to buy eggs, use incubators, and 
devote all one’s space and strength to turning out a mar¬ 
ketable product. This is unquestionably wise when ex¬ 
perimenting; then the end of the market finds one almost 
free-handed. The drawbacks are the difficulty of get¬ 
ting eggs sure to hatch, and the expense of sheds, brood¬ 
ers, steam-pipes, and so on, not to name the cost of 
incubators. 

Science has gone beyond the mother-hen, but conven¬ 
ience lingers beside her. One embarking in poultry¬ 
raising modestly, or on a home scale, had much better 
stick to her. Fancy fowls are all very well, but good, 
healthy, common stock will answer every purpose. Hens 
never lay well for some weeks after moving. Hence it 
is wise to establish them as early as possible in their new 
quarters. Feed them well, but not with too much corn. 
It makes them too fat to lay. Green stuff is essential. 
The run of a young grain-field will bring eggs at mid¬ 
winter. Put plenty of red pepper in the soft food, keep 
the fowls clean and warm, and save the biggest and most 
symmetrical eggs for setting. When a hen becomes 




186 


Household Economy [Chapter 


broody, scald out a nest-box well with carbolic soap-suds 
or larkspur water, put some dry larkspur among the straw 
of the nest, wash the eggs clean, and nestle them well 
down, then lift Biddy gently and place her upon them. 
Do not move her far from the nest of her own choice; 
she will certainly go back to it, if so affronted. Let her 
come off at her own pleasure, and see to it that she is 
well fed, but not too well fed, when she does leave the 
eggs. At the end of a week, hold the eggs before the 
light and look through them. If they show clear as when 
fresh, they are infertile, and should be taken out and laid 
aside. Such eggs hard-boiled make very good feed for 
young fowls of every sort; that is, unless they are addled. 
An addled egg looks thick and muddy in the light, and 
is only fit to throw away. A fertile one will show the 
forming chick as a dark spot, and, later, the network of 
blood-vessels in the lining. Hen-eggs hatch in twenty- 
one days. They should be wet every week in milk-warm 
water, and lightly sprinkled with it upon the twentieth 
day. This keeps the shell from hardening, so the chick 
inside cannot pip it. Duck-eggs, guinea-eggs, and tur¬ 
key-eggs all take twenty-eight days. When set, take the 
same precautions as with hen-eggs. All of them can be 
hatched under a hen, and do very well. Turkey-eggs are 
oddly sensitive to vibration. Heavy thunder just as they 
are hatching will often kill the whole clutch. 

When the eggs hatch, leave whatever comes out of 
them—chickens, turkeys, or ducks—in the nest until dry 
and able to walk. Unless the weather is very wintry, 
put hen and young ones in a triangular pen, made by peg¬ 
ging down planks a foot wide edgewise. Set a tight 
hovel in one corner of the pen, and floor the hovel well 
with loose boards. Set a shallow drinking-trough and a 
shallower feed-trough inside the pen. The little chicks 
will eat nothing for at least twelve hours after coming 
off, but the mother should have a full meal. 




Nine] $ets anli poultry 


187 


Whether or no she shows vermin, grease her under 
each wing and around the neck with sulphur and butter. 
Put the merest suspicion of the same stuff on the back 
of each chick’s head. Establish the family comfortably 
inside the hovel, but if the sun shines, leave its door open. 
When the chicks begin to run about and peep in sharp 
complaining notes, they are hungry, and should be fed 
with stale bread soaked in milk, or greasy corn-bread 
crumbled into sour curds drained free of whey. Sprin¬ 
kle a little pepper, either red or black, over the feed. If 
the chicks get plenty of red pepper in all their feed, they 
are much less likely to have gapes. Hard-boiled eggs 
cut up fine may be given the second day. Keep the 
chicks dry and warm, and the pen clean, by shifting it 
every three days to fresh ground. Whitewash the hovel 
inside and out whenever it is needed for a new brood. 
Wash off the floor-boards daily, and let them dry before 
they go back. 

But, when all is said, the best thing to keep fowls of 
every sort healthy is free range of freshly turned earth. 
No amount of care and disinfection will keep the surface 
from fouling when many fowls walk over it. Every bit 
of available space should be ploughed and seeded to grain, 
so thickly seeded weeds cannot grow. Turn hens and 
little chicks on it as soon as the dew is off. If, unluckily, 
they can have no such ranging, give them every day a 
mound of fresh-cut grass, or an armful of hay to scratch 
over. Give them clean water to drink, and put a little 
dissolved copperas in the drinking-troughs every morn- 
ing. 

In a week young chicks begin to eat cracked wheat. 
At two weeks they can negotiate cracked corn. Feed 
them bountifully, but do not overfeed. Keep them in 
thrifty growth. Therein lies the secret of profit. At 
ten weeks old they should be marketable. The average 
price is twenty-two cents a pound, and the average food 




188 


Household Economy [Chapter 


cost, about six cents a pound. Thus it will be seen there 
is a very handsome margin of profit. 

Gapes, the worst ill of broilers, comes from a sort of 
worm which gathers in the wind-pipe, and chokes the 
chick. It is bred by filth, or, rather, lack of fresh earth. 
Where ploughs run freely about a chicken-house, gapes 
is unknown. Some treat the disease by twisting out the 
worms with a looped horse-hair. A better way is to put 
the chicks in a box, and dust them every other day with 
finely powdered quicklime, or else—and this is specific, 
even where the disease is well established—to put them 
in a basket, cover it with a cloth, and set the basket upon 
a headless barrel, with tobacco burning in the bottom of 
it. Take care not to smoke too long—the chickens may 
be as dead as the worms. But, used with a wise modera¬ 
tion, smoking thus is sovereign. It must be kept up for 
two weeks with each brood, or set of broods; after that 
the youngsters are too big for the worms. Gapes seldom 
attack chickens under three weeks old. Unchecked, the 
chicks nearly always die of it, or are else so stunted they 
never do any good. 

Young ducks grow faster, and fetch more money, in 
the broiler stage than even young chickens. The best 
breed for broilers is the White Pekin. Set the eggs un¬ 
der hens, or else incubate them, and feed and care for the 
ducklings much after the manner of young chicks. Any 
young fowl indeed, kept warm and dry, and sufficiently 
well fed throughout its first two weeks, stands an excel¬ 
lent chance of reaching a later broilerhood. A Pekin 
duck lays from sixty to seventy eggs each season. Wa¬ 
ter is not a necessity for duck-raising, especially if the 
ducks are to be sold as broilers. It helps to keep adult 
fowls clean and sightly, and therefore healthy, but even 
in their case can be done without. 

Turkeys are very delicate until a fortnight old. After 
that, with plenty of range, they will nearly raise them- 



Nine ] $ets anti ^Doultrp 


189 


selves. The best food for young turkeys is curds drained 
fairly dry, and mixed with crumbled corn-bread, and 
young onion-tops cut very fine. Onion-tops, stale bread, 
crumbled, and buttermilk all mixed to a soft mush, is 
another thing they relish and thrive upon mightily. 
Young turkeys should never be permitted to sleep more 
than three days on the same place. Shift the hovel or 
pen and as soon as possible encourage the young birds to 
fly up on an outdoor roost. 


Playing Mother 

Children and invalids often find much interest in play¬ 
ing mother to a lot of young fowls. Where there is a 
farm-house, or an incubator in the neighbourhood, one 
can nearly always secure a few young chicks to stock a 
home-made brooder. A cheese-box answers excellently 
for the foundation of it—one of the big round sort with 
a tight-rimmed wooden top. Tack either old flannel or 
cheese-cloth thickly all over the top inside in loose folds 
and puckers that will hang within two inches of the bot¬ 
tom. Bore several holes in the rim of the box proper, 
and down at the bottom on one side cut a door four 
inches square. Save the piece cut out to make a shutter. 
Tack some wire-gauze over the holes to keep out mice. 
Set the cheese-box in a bigger square box with no cover. 
This box must be kept outdoors save at night or in 
stormy weather. Put a shallow drinking-cup at one side 
of it, and against the other nail a strip of tin to form an 
equally shallow feed-trough. 

Cover the bottom of the brooder proper with old flan¬ 
nel, and lay over the flannel rumpled cheese-cloth. The 
cloth on the lid must be thick and loose enough for the 
chicks to nestle in. To supply warmth, set a tin-pan on 
top of the cheese-box, fill it with boiling water, and cover 



190 


Household Economy 


it with a folded blanket. The blanket should be big 
enough to envelop the brooder, and keep in the heat. 
In all but arctic weather the chicks will stay warm 
through the night. When it is very cold, the whole con¬ 
trivance had better be brought in the kitchen and set 
some distance above the floor. 



Chapter TEN 

Eaton anti (Snrtien 

A LITTLE earth—so little even as one 

square rod—has wonderful potentialities 
of both pleasure and profit. One may 
grow fruit upon it, or fresh vegetables, or 
loads of flowers. Shrubs may bloom and 
burgeon, or vines supply shady pleasances and choice clus¬ 
tered fruit. At the simplest, the little earth may be 
turned into a grass-plot, good for many uses of edifying, 
but well worth while if it did no more than rest tired eyes. 

A Grass Plot 

Good velvet-green turf does not come by nature any 
more than reading and writing. Very small plots are 
best sodded. Sodding is also preferable if one wishes 
quick results. It should be done as soon as the grass¬ 
roots are full of life. The ground to be sodded will be 
the better for a liberal fertilising, either with a commer¬ 
cial fertiliser or thoroughly rotted stable manure. Have 
whatever is used dug in well and deeply; rake the surface 
fine, break up all clods, and, if the turf to be set is very 
thick, spade off two inches from the top of the plot. Any 
road-side or hedge-bank will furnish sod for the bring¬ 
ing home. Cut it in squares a foot across, using an axe, 
or hatchet, or spade; then with a sharp-edged spade lift 
the squares, and pile in cart or barrow, laying grass-side 
upon grass-side, or earth upon earth. Set the sods accu- 

I 9 I 


192 


Household Economy [Chapter 


rately and evenly, crowding them so no seams are visible. 
Beat them down well with the flat of the spade, and, as 
soon as the sun is off the plot, drench well. Sod takes 
beautifully in damp weather, but beware of setting it in 
wet. Wet earth cakes and packs for handling, hence the 
grass-roots become enfeebled, and are apt to die before 
the summer ends. Do not trample newly set sod more 
than can be helped. Let the first growth begin to bloom 
before cutting. But do not let seed form—that exhausts 
the roots, which need all their vitality to occupy the new 
seat. 

No matter how well and carefully done, sodding will 
not last to match sown grass. So, where time permits, 
sowing is best. But before the sowing much must be 
done. First look to the ground; if it is a sand-bank, top- 
dress with at least three inches of rich clay loam, and 
spade the top-dressing well in. Spading is for very small 
spaces. With even a quarter-acre, ploughing and har¬ 
rowing are in order. Upon free-stone soils, sow a bushel 
of slacked lime to the square rod, and mix it well in. All 
manner of grasses, and especially lawn grasses, grow and 
endure much better for lime at the root. 

Ground cannot be too rich for good turf, but it may 
well be too light. Grass will spring up on sand, or pure 
leaf-mould, but will not stay there through summer heats. 
Stiff clays need to have sand and much well-rotted manure 
mixed into them, and after that to be top-dressed with 
bone-meal at the rate of two pounds to the square rod. 
Any sort of earth must have stones, sticks, brick-bats, and 
so on, removed. If it is wet and mucky, it should be un¬ 
derdrained, and have a heavy coat of lime. Make as fine 
as possible, then sow very thickly. Four bushels of lawn- 
grass seed is the least that should go upon an acre. All 
the seed may not come up; if they should, grass knows 
enough to die out to the right thickness. Then at first 
the tender shootlets are a great help one to another if 



Ten] ilatott anti (Harden 


they grow thick. They shade the ground, and keep to 
themselves the rain and the dew that would exhale from 
bare or thinly set spaces. Besides, in lawn-making one 
is sowing not for hay, but for fine close turf. 

There are many prepared lawn-grass mixtures—so 
many that one can hardly choose amiss. But a word or 
two may be seasonable. Wet and mucky ground will do 
best under herd’s grass, otherwise called red-top, with 
some meadow-oat grass, sweet vernal grass, and meadow 
fescue. Blue grass, best of all lawn grasses, positively 
demands a limestone soil. It will come up upon almost 
any, but dies and gets patchy in a seat not to its liking. 
Deep rich chocolate loam will give a fine sward under 
orchard grass, but there must be several other grasses to 
counterbalance its habit of growing in tussocks, and never 
matting. Timothy is not among the best lawn grasses; 
it has a delicate root which resents hard usage. Meadow 
fescue, white clover, and sweet vernal grass mix well with 
either orchard grass, blue grass, or herd’s grass. 

Sow in the fall, unless the winters are very severe or 
the space seeded is upon a sharp hillside. If September 
sowing is practicable, seed the plot first with rye, and 
after with grass. The rye will grow high enough to pro¬ 
tect the grass against winter-killing. It must not be 
grazed down, nor allowed to seed next year, but mown 
just as it is jointing, and allowed to lie evenly, forming 
a mulch. Six weeks after the rye cutting, mow the grass, 
leaving the mowing also on the ground. With a good 
catch the third mowing will be so heavy it should be 
raked off. 

Nothing further remains but to weed and water thor¬ 
oughly. Sodding is apt to need a great deal of weeding 
to keep it sightly. Pull out the weeds either after rain, 
or in the morning while the dew lies. Vigilance through¬ 
out the first summer will be rewarded by smoothly beauti¬ 
ful turf ever after. But if in the dog-days weeds are 




194 


Household Economy [Chapter 


allowed to seed, the work will all have to be done over 
again next year. Floating seeds, as those of dandelion 
and thistle, will be blown in every year. But with the 
grass-roots properly established they can hold their own 
against all such chance comers. Dandelion is ofttimes a 
welcome intruder, but beware of giving it too much room. 
Nothing is much more untidy than a grass plot all over 
fuzzy stalks and long, twisty leaves. 

If grass-roots freeze out, as soon as the ground is 
thawed, either roll the grass well or go over it with a 
heavy flat-faced mallet, and beat down the turf hard. 
This compacting is especially desirable for the turf of 
tennis courts and golf greens. After it, there should be 
no tramping until the earth is mellow and the grass is 
well started to grow. 

Lawn-Planting 

Good grass is a choice possession, not to be lightly 
marred, nor sacrificed for things of inferior worth. Be¬ 
ware of cutting it up into little patchy beds, or crowding 
it so full of shrubs and vines its sweep and spaciousness 
are lost. Rockeries are sadly out of place save in spots 
so shaded, or so drawn upon by tree-roots, nothing grassy 
will cover the ground. Amid thick evergreen clumps 
they have some reason for being, yet even there, if the 
eye from porch or windows travels below the clumps, one 
had better cover the ground with trailing box-vine, or 
mass it with small early flowering things such as snow¬ 
drops, crocuses, and grape hyacinths. 

A deep narrow lawn is generally more satisfactory if 
the entrance-way is placed at one side. The walk may 
curve slightly at either the middle or where it comes to 
the door.. Keep the grass-line true with the inner curve, 
and outside, next the boundary, set shrubby things, or 
make gay flower-beds. Never plant anything but a vine 



Ten] 3Utott anti #artim *95 


directly beside a front house-wall, nor at the edge of a 
porch. But even such planting is less objectionable than 
sticking things helter-skelter promiscuously over the 
grass. Unless there is a good big lawn, do not venture 
upon anything beyond one central clump. It may be of 
roses, either a flat bed, or two or three standard trees of 
sturdy habit, or a dwarf copper-beech, or one of the trail¬ 
ing woody things which have come out of Japan. A 
rose-pillar is fine in mild climates. It is nothing more 
than a stout cedar-post ten to twelve feet high, with a 
rampant climbing rose planted beside it, and trained 
round and round it till it shows as a column of living 
green, blossom-wreathed throughout late May and June. 
A low stone pillar with a hollowed top, and ivy trained 
all over the outside, makes another excellent centre-piece. 
Fill the hollowed top with rich earth, and plant the gayest 
summer flowers in it. Lacking stone, a brick pillar may 
be built at small cost. Where ivy winters badly, cover 
the pillar with ampelopsis or wistaria. A brick pillar 
may have the hollow filled throughout with rich earth, 
and openings left up and down for planting stone-crop, 
house-leek, indeed, any of the wall plants. 

A well-grown rhododendron is among the best of lawn 
shrubs; the glossy evergreen foliage is a delight even in 
winter, and through two months the plant will be a pyra¬ 
mid of bloom. Whatever shrub is planted, give it a 
chance for happy growth. Dig a hole at least two feet 
square and as many deep, put three inches of rocks and 
crocks at the bottom of it, over that six inches of well- 
rotted manure, and upon that several inches of fine light 
rich loam. Upon this spread out the roots, after looking 
them carefully over, and trimming off every bruised, or 
skinned, or decayed fibre. Set the plant so that when 
the hole is filled in, it will be about an inch deeper in earth 
than in the place where it grew. Nursery-grown shrubs 
are much more likely to give satisfaction than chance 



196 


Household Economy [Chapter 


friendly gifts. This not only because one has in the nur¬ 
sery exact choice, but because, through frequent trans¬ 
planting, nursery stock has many bunchy, branchy fibrous 
roots ready to take hold at once, while things from a 
lawn or garden have roots so spread it is impossible to 
move them without cutting away one-half or two-thirds. 

Spread out the roots carefully with the fingers, placing 
them as nearly as possible the way they grew, then fill in 
around and over them with fine mellow earth. One per¬ 
son should hold the stem upright while another packs the 
roots. When they are well covered, fill up the hole, tramp 
it firmly, and fill again. Tramp a second time, and over 
the tramping heap loose earth lightly. This is to prevent 
settling and having water stand around the stem. Fall 
planting is best for evergreens, grape-vines, and such 
hardy shrubs as forsythia, lilac, snowball, syringa, and 
the flowering quinces. More delicate things should be 
planted as early in the spring as the ground admits of 
working. Winter setting is seldom advisable. It 
may, however, be done if the ground is prepared, and 
holes opened beforehand, while still in fall mellowness. 
The very worst time to plant is in a spring thaw, or rain, 
when the ground is soggy wet, and there will be no more 
freezes to loosen and fine it. 

A broad shallow lawn should have an oval grass-plot 
with only a low bed in the middle of it, and tall shrubs 
or flowering things massed in the corners. Nothing is so 
effective in proportion to cost for such corner-planting 
as that hardy yet humble biennial, the hollyhock. It 
comes in all colours, is single, semi-double, and richly 
double, flowers abundantly throughout three months, and 
asks only a chance to live. A thick row next the bound¬ 
ary makes a waving, blossomy wall. Seed sown one year 
come to bloom the next—bloom that is the very soul of 
summer. There are tall-growing varieties and dwarf 
ones. A dollar will buy seed enough to keep up three 



Ten] 


iUton anti #artien 


197 


hundred feet of hedge. Further, the seed ripen so easily 
that, after the first outlay, they can be saved at home. 
There must, of course, be a yearly sowing, with resetting 
in the fall, when the blooming plants die. Hollyhocks 
will grow fairly wherever a cabbage will, but reward care 
and rich earth with extra royal bloom. 

Where the comity of neighbourhoods makes fences a 
requisite, those of wire-netting covered with vines are 
highly ornamental, and not too costly. Annual vines— 
as morning glory, moon-flower, cobae—are best; they can 
be stripped from the wire after frost so as not to rust it 
in winter. Among ornamental low hedges, the privet 
hedge easily holds first rank, but the proper setting and 
training of it need a gardener’s skill. Hedging for 
privacy, as about back premises, requires a stout plant, 
preferably evergreen. Arbor vitae is good unless the 
summer sun is too hot, or there are big trees so near the 
hedge-line they starve and kill it. Osage-orange makes 
a good hedge against trespassers, either biped or quadru¬ 
ped. So does the native whitethorn if it can be per¬ 
suaded to grow. 

A summer-house is more than a delight if there is room 
for it. It need not be a costly affair. Little folk will 
get even more good out of a rough lath construction, 
thickly overrun with vines, and floored with nothing more 
costly than clean earth. The baby can sprawl there upon 
his blanket through the hottest summer days, or the tod¬ 
dlers play games. Build it low and broad, with doors 
upon four sides, and in either square, round, or octagon 
shape. Grape-arbours yield as much profit as pleasure, 
if one is at the pains so to prune the vines as not to waste 
all their strength in maintaining unfruitful wood. Fruit 
buds, it should not be forgotten, come out of new wood; 
that is to say, wood of last year’s growth. The nearer 
the roots these new growths come out, the more richly 
fruitful they will prove. A vigorous shoot will often 




198 


Household Economy [Chapter 


grow fifteen to twenty feet long. Thus cutting away the 
old vine need not mean spoiling the precious shade. 

Flower-Beds and Borders 

The soil good for grass and shrubs answers as well for 
flowers. A rose-bed should be dug out and underdrained 
with pebbles and broken pots just as should the hole for 
a shrub. Loam, leaf-mould, and well-rotted manure in 
equal parts make the best soil for roses. If the loam is 
heavy, a little sand helps it. Fill up the bed, leaving it 
slightly higher in the middle. A round or oval shape is 
best. Roses thus massed both show and bloom better 
than if scattered stragglingly all along a border. If dec¬ 
oration pure and simple is the aim, plant only two or 
three varieties in a bed; but a genuine rose-lover will 
hardly be content with so few sorts. For such the only 
caution is—plant the tallest sorts in the middle, or else 
let the centre plants grow up, and peg down those around 
the edges. 

Strong plants upon their own roots are much the best. 
If roses -are home-grown from cuttings, it pays to keep 
them in six-inch pots until they are in rampant growth. 
Plant out as soon as danger of frost is over. By fall the 
roots will be so well established there is no danger of 
winter-killing if the plants are a little protected. Cover 
the bed about November with evergreen boughs laid in a 
circle, butts outward. Over that throw a light coating 
of straw, leaves, corn-stalks, or stable litter. Tall stems 
must first be bent down and pegged along the ground. 
Where the winters are semi-arctic, it is advisable to cover 
the bed with coarse manure before putting on the boughs. 
In milder climates the manure is unsafe; it may stimulate 
to growth in mild intervals, and thus help in the winter- 
killing. 

As to bulbs and annuals, the cardinal rule for lawn- 



Ten] llatou anti (iartien 


planting is to mass rather than to blotch. Put the same 
sorts, the same colours, together. A bed all over scarlet 
or yellow, or white and green, is ever so much more pleas¬ 
ing than, and trebly as effective as, one ring-streaked and 
striped, or in rainbow ribbons. The taste for ribbon and 
carpet planting, indeed, is very bad taste; a ribbon or 
carpet bed is only a sort of floricultural tour de force — 
“ most tolerable, and not to be endured.” 

Salvia, though not properly an annual, can be treated 
as such, and well repay trouble. No other plants give 
such magnificent masses of splendid scarlet from June 
till the late autumn. Sow the seed under glass in Jan¬ 
uary, transplant from the seed-box to thumb-pots as soon 
as the seedlings develop rough leaves, and shift into big¬ 
ger pots as growth demands. A dozen plants thus grown, 
set out as early as possible, will make all the space about 
them splendid throughout a long summer. The seed are 
better for soaking six hours in warm water before sow¬ 
ing. If one wishes to be hedged and bounded with the 
glory of the summer, one can do no better than to plant 
along the boundaries lines of tall-growing scarlet cannas, 
and inside the cannas a double line of salvias. 

Phlox, verbenas, and portulacca, all low-growing, will 
carpet any rich sunny space with bloom continuously the 
summer through. Sow and shift as in case of salvia. 
Portulacca is hardy enough to be scattered in the fall 
where it is to stand, and comes to bloom almost as early 
as from pot-growth. Its main drawback is its sun-wor¬ 
ship ; upon cloudy days it keeps obstinately shut. Indeed, 
in showery weather with glints of sun in between, the 
flowers open and close half-a-dozen times a day. Con¬ 
sidering that it is an ephemeral blossom, dying at sun¬ 
down, it thus shows a sensitive constancy truly won¬ 
derful. 

For a yellow border, try marigolds with nasturtiums 
to the fore, or else the dwarf marigolds in front, and 




200 


Household Economy [Chapter 


climbing nasturtiums upon a trellis in the background. 
Coreopsis give much bloom, gorgeous if something 
coarse and ragged. Dahlias, tall and dwarf, single and 
double, like hollyhocks, run the whole chromatic scale, 
and, further, furnish a superabundance of splendidly 
showy bloom. Use them, like hollyhocks, to fill in side 
spaces, corners, or breaks between shrubs. Against a 
vine-edge or an evergreen background, nothing is more 
effective than a clump of tall dahlias, snow-white, pure 
golden-yellow, dazzling scarlet, or royal purply-crimson. 

Whatever is planted, eschew straight lines or rectangu¬ 
lar settings; let things balance properly, but beware the 
deadly parallel. Nature avoids it strenuously; in the 
wilds it cannot be said: 

“ Grove nods to grove ; each alley has its brother, 

And half the parterre quite reflects the other.” 

Learn as far as possible, in nature’s school, that unity 
in variety which is the real charm of growing things. 


The Fruit Garden 

Orchard-planting is outside the purview of this vol¬ 
ume, but the fruit-garden comes well within the range of 
household economics. An acre is none too much for it, 
yet it may be brought within the confines of an ordinary 
village lot. The tiniest back-yard has space for at least 
a grape-vine, a dwarf fruit-tree, and a strawberry-barrel. 
Set the vine so it may be trained over a light trellis shad¬ 
ing the back-door. Dig out a hole for it at least three 
feet square, and board the hole all round with rough 
lumber painted with coal-tar. This will last a long time, 
and keep the vine-roots from damaging drains or cellar 
walls, if, every fall, when the sap is well down, the roots 
are cut along the board-line with an axe or sharp-edged 




A STRAWBERRY BARREL 











































































Ten] Platon anti #artien 


spade. Such root-pruning properly done is an aid to 
health and fruitfulness. 

In the corner furthest from the vine set the tree. Plant 
both as directed later for the fruit-garden proper. The 
strawberry-barrel needs all the light and sunshine pos¬ 
sible. Set it in the middle of the yard. It must be stout, 
and well hooped, otherwise it is not worth while. Begin 
by taking out one head, then bore the sides full of two- 
inch holes, and the bottom full of half-inch ones. Bury 
it half-way, fill with very rich earth, set some sort of 
drain in the middle, and let the earth slope lightly toward 
the drain. Plant a strong vine in every hole and a row 
all round the top. A barrel prepared in May or June, 
and well tended, especially if planted with pot-grown 
vines, ought to bear next season. The main trouble is to 
keep it well watered. In warm weather water it twice 
a day—before sunrise and late in the afternoon. Once a 
week give a copious watering of liquid manure. Pick out 
all weeds, and semi-occasionally lighten the earth with a 
garden-trowel. Protect through the winter with ever¬ 
green boughs or corn-stalks. In spring, as soon as the 
buds swell, water plentifully, and, until the berries are 
within a fortnight of ripening, give liquid manure twice 
a week. When the earliest fruit begins turning white, 
stop the manure water, but double the supply of fresh. 
By renewing earth and vines every second year, after 
bearing time, the barrel may be kept indefinitely in com¬ 
mission. 

A plot, fifty by one hundred feet, may be made to yield 
astonishing supplies of fruit. Given such dimensions in 
the brick-shape unluckily so common, run narrow paths 
down each side next the fences, and plant in them grape¬ 
vines with roots projecting inward. Unless the foot-way 
is very much tramped, the vines will grow there as well 
as anywhere. But for six inches around the stems the 
earth should be kept light and loose, and in winter the 




202 


Household Economy [Chapter 


whole root-spread needs a good coat of coarse manure. 
Train the vines up against the fence, or on wires stretched 
inside it. Keep the canes well shortened, and in summer 
prune from June forward, rubbing off all but two or three 
new shoots. In the fall, cut back these new canes to 
sound fully ripened wood. 

All along beside the end fence dig a trench, four feet 
wide and five feet deep, the whole plot-breadth. Board 
up the sides stoutly with well-tarred boards; then fill in 
first with a foot of stones, brickbats, old shoes, potsherds, 
bones, and general coarse litter. Upon top of that put 
six inches of rotted manure, and cover with rich earth to 
within a foot of the top. Thus, in spite of the boarding 
which will keep in the roots, the trees will be in no danger 
of starving. 

Plant dwarf fruit-trees in the ditch, spreading out 
their roots well, then filling in the remaining foot with 
the finest, lightest earth. Tramp, and pack firmly, heap¬ 
ing the earth a little; then mulch the surface so thickly 
as to keep down the weeds. Once in six months or so 
rake off the mulch, dig up the whole space, using a three- 
tined fork, and never prying out a root; replace the mulch, 
thickening it as necessary, and water wherever there is 
even a hint of drought. Fruit-trees will always be the 
better for a copious sunset watering, also at mid-day or 
one o'clock, if the leaves droop perceptibly. 

A good tree selection is a pear, a peach, a plum, or a 
cherry. Choose a very early pear, and a very late peach. 
Very early peaches seldom bear fruit enough to be worth 
while. A medium early plum will give more satisfaction. 
Keep down all suckers. Dwarf trees are grafted upon 
other than their own roots; if alien shoots come up, the 
budded trunk will die. Summer prune—which means 
pinch—back all shoots to a compact symmetrical head, 
flattish rather than round, with no branch extending be¬ 
yond the trench. Every spring dig away the earth 



Ten] 


ilaton anti <^artien 


203 


around the trunks down to the crown of the root, examine 
for borers, and, if found, dig them out and burn. Wash 
the trunks well with strong soap-suds the first warm day. 
If insects attack the foliage, either cover them a tree at 
a time with a sheet, and burn half-a-pound of sulphur 
underneath it, or spray well with the Bordeaux mixture. 
(See Chapter on Insecticides and Disinfectants.) 

Plants are very human, especially in their sympathies 
and antipathies. Thus it happens that blackberry vines 
do better next orchard trees, even dwarf trees, than any 
other among the small fruits. Therefore set a double 
row of blackberries next the tree-trench, planting the 
vines eighteen inches apart in the row, and setting them 
alternate, not opposite one to the other. The rows should 
have a space of two feet between. Set posts in the space 
ten feet apart, and four feet above ground. Stretch two 
wires along them, and tie the canes to the wires with 
bast. Shorten in the tips a third every fall, unless a vig¬ 
ilant pinching through the summer has left them stocky 
and branchy. Blackberry vines grow one year, and die 
the next, after bearing. Thus it is necessary every fall 
to break out the dead vines, and tie living ones in their 
places. So trained, they yield a third more fruit, have 
a longer season, and take up much less space. They need 
a coat of manure every fall, and to have the earth at their 
roots kept light and clean throughout the season of growth 
and bearing. 

Currants, red, black, and white, have a kinship of 
prickles with the rampant blackberries, so may go in the 
next rank. Set each sort by itself, instead of mixing them 
in the row. Cultivate same as blackberries. If the cur¬ 
rant-worm attacks the leaves, sprinkle them with pow¬ 
dered hellebore, or else spray with Bordeaux mixture. 
Use only well-rotted manure to fertilise, and now and 
again thin out thick stems with a remorseless hand. 

Gooseberries are scarcely worth planting, unless one is 





204 


Household Economy [Chapter 


sure of wood ashes to fertilise them. The ashes are sov¬ 
ereign against mildew, which, without them, plays havoc 
with fruit and leaves. Raspberries so love shade and 
moisture, and keep so much of the original savage in¬ 
stinct, they grow and fruit best if given a square plot, 
deep and moist, and allowed to run over it at their own 
sweet will. Since their habit of growth is like their 
cousin the blackberry’s, the dead canes must be pulled out 
every fall. Burn dead canes and leaves, and return the 
ash to the vine-roots along with all the other wood ashes 
available. Under such conditions the raspberries will 
take care of the weeds, and hold each other up better than 
any trellis. They will, further, set generous clusters of 
fruit, and bring it in their own semi-shade to a luscious 
perfection no sun-ripened berries ever know. 

It is a waste of space to plant apple-trees in such a fruit- 
garden unless climatic conditions forbid tenderer fruit. 
Apples will ripen in latitudes too high for either pears or 
peaches, and any but the very hardiest plums. An apple, 
or, indeed, almost any fruit-tree, may be grown in a small 
space by proper pinching and root-pruning. Mark ac¬ 
curately the desired root-spread; then every fall take a 
long spade with a cutting edge, and force it down at least 
twenty inches deep all along the line. Pinch in the tips 
of the branches to exceed this line by a very little. It will 
be hard work at first, especially in the rampant growth of 
midsummer, but persistence tells in fruit-culture as every¬ 
where else. Keep the head symmetrical, and be sure to 
have it open. A round bunch of stems and twigs thick 
enough for a broom will never, never set fair fruit, nor 
bring it to perfection. Beware, however, in summer 
pruning, of leaving young fruit bare. It needs sunlight, 
to be sure, but only intermittent sunlight filtered through 
screening leaves. The full blaze will bake and wither it. 
Spare enough leafy twigs to shelter the young fruit; but 
pinch out their tips so they may not grow straggling. 



Ten] Haton anti <§atfjen 


Counterbalance the raspberry square with strawberries. 
Set several sorts; there is a difference of six weeks be¬ 
tween the late and early. Plant smallish beds, say eight 
feet by two, with narrow tracks between. Make a point 
of understanding a strawberry-bed’s evanescence, or, 
rather, that it is much easier to plant and tend a new bed 
than to keep an old one in bearing trim. Set two rows 
of vines to the bed, and vines eight inches apart in the 
row. Plant in May or June, and cultivate well, keeping 
runners clipped carefully throughout the first season. 
There will be a half-crop next spring. After it keep the 
earth light until midsummer; then let the rampant run¬ 
ners have their way, and root all over it. Top-dress 
heavily in late fall with well-rotted manure. Next sum¬ 
mer, when bearing is over, dig out every vine, pulverise 
the earth for at least eight inches down, and let it lie 
fallow a fortnight, keeping it well stirred all the time. 
Fertilise heavily with either wood-ashes or a good potash 
fertiliser, and plant again, but change the vines. That is, 
alternate varieties. Mysteriously, vagrantly, each sort 
seems to gather from the soil some special element all 
the other sorts pass by. 

Plentiful watering, after the fruit is set, hastens ripen¬ 
ing, and increases the crop a third or even a half. So 
does setting a board-frame around a bed, and covering it 
with cheese-cloth. The boards should not be put on until 
blooming ends and the first fruit is set. Berries ripened 
thus under cover are softer and more luscious than those 
grown in the open, hence not so good for either market¬ 
ing or preserving. But for home consumption they are 
delightful beyond expression. Another thing—by cov¬ 
ering a bed or two, the crop is increased and the season 
sensibly prolonged. 



2o6 


J 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Cold Frames, Asparagus Beds, and 

Hot Beds 

Cold-frames, asparagus-beds, and hotbeds are so cor¬ 
related they should be kept together. They may be 
sources of pleasure, or profit, even of mild revenue. 
Truck-farming has not abolished local markets, especially 
in the smaller places. Truck grown a thousand miles 
away comes to hand ragged and wilted, and generally too 
disreputable-looking to have the ghost of a chance against 
crisp things fresh from under the glass. 

Glass is the informing soul of the cold-frame, which is 
nothing more than a sound trig frame, a foot high at the 
back, six inches in front, with a sash accurately fitting it, 
and a bottom of fine light earth. The bottom is also a 
stretch of garden-bed. Plant it in September with let¬ 
tuce, radishes, beets, tongue-grass, etc., tend them care¬ 
fully until frost threatens, keeping down all weeds; then 
clap the cold-frame over them, bank earth three inches 
high all round, throw mats or old carpets over the glass 
upon cold nights, and at mid-day give plenty of air. A 
cold-frame, six feet by three, well stocked and tended, 
should keep a family of six supplied with salads and 
relishes up to Christmas, besides furnishing enough for 
sale to pay the cost of construction. That should be less 
than three dollars; the main part is for the sash, which, 
well cared for, will last a great many years. 

A hotbed of the same dimensions will cost possibly 
eight dollars, depending something upon the cost of la¬ 
bour, and whether or no manure can be had for the 
handling. Dig out the ground three feet deep, put in a 
foot of straw, leaves, or coarse litter, wet it thoroughly, 
and tramp it down one-half. Put in fresh stable manure, 
likewise wet and tramped, up to the surface level. Then 
set a frame, a foot deep in front and eighteen inches at 



Ten] 


HaVott auto Martini 


207 


the back, over the bed. Spread six inches of light earth 
over the manure inside the frame, then bank the frame 
outside with more fresh manure, piling it slanting, and 
packing it down hard. A little earth over the manure- 
banks helps to keep in the heat. Put on the sash and let 
stand several days—until a thermometer thrust down in 
the earth stands a little above seventy degrees. Greater 
heat will scald the young seedling. After sowing things 
take care the bed does not get too hot. If it does, take 
off the sash, and dig holes here and there down to the 
manure so the heat may escape. 

A hotbed made the first of December, and a second 
prepared after Christmas, will furnish a constant succes¬ 
sion of winter greens and relishes. Sow all things very 
thickly; they are quickly edible, and may be thinned to 
advantage. Young beet-tops make a dainty dish indeed, 
if pulled up three weeks from the time they show above¬ 
ground. Protect the sash as for cold-frames, and in very 
severe weather do not open it, except for a few minutes 
at a time. In moderate weather give air every day, but 
not enough to chill the young plants. Aside from the 
greens and relishes, these hotbeds can provide many 
things for sale—fine early tomato-plants, cabbage-plants, 
celery-stocks. Indeed, with plenty of space, and the will 
and skill to care for them, hotbeds can furnish very de¬ 
cent amounts of pin-money. 

So can asparagus-beds, especially in suburban places. 
The best dimensions for them are ten feet by two; they 
must not be too wide to reach across handily. Make them 
deep and rich; dig out the ground at least three feet down, 
fill in with rotted manure, put a little fine soil on top, and 
plant year-old roots ten inches apart in rows down eithei 
side the bed. A box six inches high, to hold the bed in 
shape, is a help. The tips can be cut the second year 
after planting. Every fall heap the bed a foot deep with 
rotted manure, and every March, before the tips stait, 



208 Household Economy [Chapter 


top-dress it plentifully with salt. This helps to keep 
down weeds, and makes better stalks. Asparagus is a 
native of salt marshes, and revels in soil that would kill 
other things. Keep the beds very clean, and do not cut 
too late in the season. Let the late stalks grow up and 
be winter-killed, then cut them and burn upon top of the 
bed. 

Kitchen-Window Gardens 

The secret of a contented cook is the kitchen-window 
garden. Upon many other counts it is well worth while. 
No matter who cares for it, house-mistress or maid, it 
can be made the source of infinite pleasure and no little 
homely comfort. The wise folk who labour in east-side 
tenements say they always labour hopefully where there 
is a fire-escape garden showing pot-herbs, or sweet-herbs, 
or rampant squash and melon-vines, or even starveling 
stalks of corn. They say, further, these missionaries, 
that often a growing plant proves their very best auxil¬ 
iary, and preaches day and night a helpful gospel of clean¬ 
liness and cheer. 

The possibilities of a kitchen-window garden are al¬ 
most as wonderful and as various as those of humanity 
itself. The moist warm air suits all manner of growing 
things ever so much better than the starch atmosphere of 
the parlour. The garden, of course, must have the sun¬ 
niest window, and, if possible, also the warmest one. 
Have it fitted with shelves rather far apart, and as high 
as can be conveniently reached. Ordinary wooden boxes, 
with zinc trays underneath to catch the drip, are best. 
They should be just as long as the shelves and of varying 
depths. The deepest, therefore the heaviest, should be 
on the lowest shelf, which should be of such height as to 
bring the box-surface level with the window. Plant in 
this box sweet herbs; it will give space for a supply as 
plenteous as it is varied. In between their roots radishes 









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A KITCHEN •^’WIND.C 

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Ten] 


ilaton anli #artien 


209 


may grow. The next box should be given over to pot 
herbs—parsley, fennel, and their ilk. A pinch of kale- 
seed or mustard-seed, sprinkled over every month or so, 
will provide supplies of tender greens all the year round. 
A clump of chives may fill one corner, a knot of leeks 
another. Tiny onions may be stuck down in earth, and 
plucked for eating as soon as they are full of sweet¬ 
growing juice. 

Give the third box to salads—lettuce and its kind. Sow 
radishes in the lettuce-rows, and pick out either for green 
herbs or roots as they grow. And in the last two of the 
boxes, one may grow flowers, either using them as seed¬ 
beds for later plantings, or filling with some such peren¬ 
nial favourite as mignonette, or sweet alyssum, or lusty 
geraniums, both sweet-scented and flowering. 

Water the boxes whenever the earth looks the least 
dry on top. Fill them with the richest earth, and give 
fortnightly a supply of ammoniated bone-meal. Put 
fresh earth every autumn into the boxes of vegetables, 
and give the sweet-herb bed a thick top-dressing of earth 
as well as the liquid manure. 

Vegetables 

With a garden-plot really worth the name, set fruit of 
all sorts around the edges, not forgetting a grape-arbour 
over the gate, and partly in the back-yard; divide the space 
with walks crossing exactly in the middle, and make an¬ 
other very narrow walk, all round next the fruit borders. 
In the four big squares practise rotation. One year plant 
potatoes, next year small things, a third year peas and 
beans, and a fourth corn, or cabbage, or melons. For, 
with this sufficient garden-space, all manner of eatables 
can be home-grown. 

Manure garden ground heavily in late fall, plough un¬ 
der the manure, and leave the ground rough. In the 




2io Household Economy [Chapter 


spring harrow fine, or else cross-plough, breaking only 
three inches deep. Lay off rows for cabbage, potatoes, 
and beans with the slope of the ground, so they may drain 
themselves. Rows for very early things, as peas, beets, 
and radishes, ought to run due east and west. Then, by 
standing a board a foot wide on edge along the north side 
of the row, there is protection from frosty winds and 
reflected sun-heat to hasten growth. 

Good green peas are very much a matter of good seed. 
The earliest sorts are bush-growing, either sugar or 
wrinkled. Make three or four sowings a week apart, as 
these little fellows have a trick of filling out all their pods 
almost simultaneously. The tall-growing May peas and 
the heavy marrowfats have a much longer season, but are 
by no means so delicately tempting as what French folk 
call “ little peas.” To get the full benefit of the little-pea 
flavour, they must be picked before the pods are full, when 
the peas proper are a little more than half-grown. A row 
sown at the same time, and one half protected with the 
upright board, the other left bare, will be a week apart 
in blooming and filling out. With beets and radishes, 
there is also a very perceptible hastening of growth. Sow 
the two together, dropping the seed almost side by side. 
Radishes are audaciously strong, and break through 
crusted earth that would smother weaker seed. Besides, 
they grow so quickly they are eaten and out of the way 
before the beets have fairly found themselves; then, too, 
pulling out the radishes gives the beets a delicate working 
when most needed. 

Sow tomato and early-cabbage seed in a January hot¬ 
bed, give the plants air at mid-day when they show rough 
leaves, and transplant as soon as there is no danger of 
frost. Tomatoes do better for potting after the manner 
of salvias. When set in place, break the pot after it is 
in the ground, and leave the pieces. Thus there is no 
disturbance of the fine clinging rootlets. This may seem 




Ten] 


iLaton anti #art>en 


2 11 


a trifle, but makes a difference of a week in the earliness 
of the fruit. 

Start melon, cucumber, and summer-squash seed upon 
squares of inverted turf, laid upon a board, and set in 
a sunny window, preferably a kitchen window. Plant 
them in early March, water well, and the first of May 
transfer the turf squares to hills. Dig out holes two feet 
square and eight feet apart for melon hills. Cucumbers 
and squashes may be set half that distance. Fill the 
holes with rotted manure to within six inches of the top, 
then with fine light loam in which the turf is to be buried. 
Cultivate every week until the vines cover the ground. 
But beware of planting melons next either cucumbers or 
squashes. Bees will carry pollen from one flower to its 
neighbours. Cucumbers and squashes seldom show the 
taint till next year, but melons often get a perceptible 
squash-flavour, far from pleasant. Gourds are even 
worse than squashes, or cucumbers as a cross; hence it is 
the part of wisdom to plant them, if they are planted at 
all, as far as possible from garden vines. 

String-beans, like green peas, require to be sown in suc¬ 
cession. All manner of garden rows are helped by wa¬ 
tering with soap-suds, but none quite so much as string- 
bean rows. Fill a watering-pot with the suds, put on a 
very coarse rose, and, walking slowly, drench the vines, 
and the ground at their root. Two or three waterings 
will be rewarded with early beans in great abundance. 
Soap-suds also do wonders for young onions—old ones, 
too, for that matter. Shalots, chives, and the rank win¬ 
ter onions should have a corner apart, all to themselves, 
and be well cultivated early in spring and late in the fall. 

Things transplant best in showery weather, but do not 
let them get overgrown for want of rain. Make up fresh 
hills, or rows, open them, pour in half-a-pint of water, 
and set the plant in the moist spot, then draw dry earth 
well up about the stem. If the sun is fierce, it may be 



Household Economy [Chapter 


necessary to shade for a day or two. Plant in late after¬ 
noon, so the night coolness may help the plant to establish 
its roots. If weather-forecasting ever grows into a sci¬ 
ence, gardeners will transplant things upon the edge of 
rain, and let the showers settle them in place. 

Gherkins and cucumbers for pickling are best planted 
in midsummer. This brings them to bearing just before 
frost, when the sun is not hot enough to scorch and mar 
the tender fruit. They may be set in between the hills 
of early cucumbers or in the space from which early corn 
or cabbage has been taken. Indeed, one secret of good 
gardening is a succession of crops. Thus weeds are kept 
down, and tilth, which means in a measure fertility, is 
kept up. 

An Herb Corner 

Whoever owns a garden-plot ought to give a little space 
in it to herbs. A few stalks of dill, a root of tarragon, 
a marjoram clump, some sweet basil, a yard or so of car- 
roway, thyme, sage, catnip, horehound, cumfrey, and ele¬ 
campane, give the last touch of homely comfort. Each 
and several, they must be picked just as they come into 
flower, dried in the shade, then put in tight paper-bags 
and hung in the airiest possible place. All that is, save 
the cumfrey and elecampane, whose virtue is in the root, 
so they must be left where they grow until wanted. Pep¬ 
per is another thing no garden should lack. There are 
twenty kinds of red pepper, but none of them better than 
the big mild bull-nose and the tiny cherry pepper, which 
is a knob of scarlet fire. Sow when the ground is warm, 
cultivate well, and gather when the pods show the least 
sign of turning. Thus they are stronger than when al¬ 
lowed to hang until a deep scarlet all over. 

The season of tomatoes has been so extended by truck¬ 
farming, it seems idle to say that in every home with a 
garden it ought to last from the first of July until after 





Ten] 


Hatott anti #artien 


213 


frost. The early sorts, pot-grown, should fruit a month 
after setting out. Later sorts started in the hotbed will 
come on several weeks later. Plants set out in June will 
furnish a fall crop, besides plenty of green fruit for pre¬ 
serves and pickles, for both of which purposes they are 
unexcelled. 



Chapter ELEVEN 

(Greenhouses, ^tntioto €&x 
fcens, anti Jhottse plants 

T HE greenhouse pure and simple is pos¬ 
sible only in exceptionally favoured locali¬ 
ties, where the soil is so well drained, water 
does not rise in excavations, and the winters 
are so mild, sun-heat under protecting glass 
is all that the tenderest plant demands. Whoever in such 
a location has a stretch of sunny outer wall, with a few 
feet of spare space along it, may have loads of flowers the 
winter through at a very slight expense either in money 
or trouble. All the more flowers if a drum, heated by 
air from a furnace-flue, is set up just outside the wall. 
Winter sunshine is cheery and heartening; still, more 
plants may be coaxed into blossom if there is some slight 
heightening of its tepid warmth. 

For such a greenhouse, dig down beside the house- 
wall to a depth of three feet, and for a breadth of six 
feet, all along the available stretch. Put down a con¬ 
crete floor, six inches thick all over the excavation, and 
wall up to a foot above ground with either stone, brick, 
or concrete. Upon top of this wall set a wooden frame; 
two by four scantlings are stout enough for it. Board 
up the frame within and without to a height of eight- 
inches. Above that have glass running on to a glass 
roof. The roof is a lean-to stayed against the house- 
wall. Have a door in the end, with steps leading down 

214 


2I 5 


Greenhouses anti plants 


to it. If possible, have also a door from the house; thus 
in sharp weather one can go in and out without letting 
in cold air. 

Fifty dollars should build and equip such a greenhouse. 
Seventy-five is a liberal estimate. Fit it inside with slat 
walk-ways laid upon the concrete floor, a bench of earth 
all along the side, its top level with the glass, and racks 
rising like steps against the house-wall space. Also put 
strong hooks overhead to hold swinging baskets and pots. 

Plant in each outer corner a strong root of some climb¬ 
ing rose—Marechal Niel, or Cloth of Gold, will do ex¬ 
cellently. Dig through the concrete floor, and make a 
deep rich bed for the rose-roots. Let them stay there 
constantly. Ftave the roof movable, so it can be raised 
in summer, or taken wholly away. Train the roses upon 
wires just underneath the roof. When the sash is out 
of the way, they will stretch there in ropes of leaf and 
bloom. 

Passion flowers may well be set in a deep box of the 
richest earth against some part of the house-wall, and 
trained to cover it with purple bloom. If the green¬ 
house stands outside a parlour, by making the walls high 
enough to let the roof reach the tops of the windows, the 
glass of them may have traceries of living bloom. 

Plant seeds and cuttings in the bench—a raised frame 
of earth—pricking them out into little pots as they grow, 
and shifting from the little to big ones, to rest upon the 
stages. Plant bulbs also in the bench—hyacinths and 
tulips for Christmas blossom about the first of August, 
and later ones in succession. Plant also a few bulbs in 
pots. Set them in the shade under the bench for six 
weeks, until they have struck strong roots, then set in the 
light, and water freely while they are growing. After 
the buds are well set, take the pots into the house—sev¬ 
enty degrees will not hurt them, though the greenhouse 
temperature will run between fifty and sixty. Crocuses 





2l6 


Household Economy [Chapter 


will bloom in it, and many, many other things. Almost 
any flower will bud, in fact, though for perfect blossom a 
little more warmth is needed. 

A greenhouse artificially heated, whether attached or 
detached, can hardly be well built and equipped under two 
hundred dollars. For this sum one gets but a modest 
space, glass upon three sides; the north wall is of plank 
or brick, to throw back the heat and hold the door. The 
roof is of glass, and the floor sunk a foot below surface- 
level, concreted, to match the rubble foundation walls. 
Heat comes from a stove set ingeniously outside, so as 
to furnish a circulation of hot water through pipes under 
the benches. This circulation, of course, necessitates a 
steady water-supply, either through pipes, or from a tank, 
fed from the roof-rains, or an artesian well. Usually the 
stove-house is over and beside the entrance, thus shelter¬ 
ing the greenhouse from inrushes of frosty air. The 
house itself must face south or east, and stand as sheltered 
as possible. Very thrifty gardeners, with a small heated 
glass-house, make other houses, little more than glass 
roofs above walled pits in the ground, and keep in them 
plants coaxed in the heat successively to growth and buds. 
The pits preserve them excellently; thus, when the spring 
comes, there are quantities of things ready to bloom— 
quantities out of all proportion to the spread of glass. 

For five hundred dollars one can have a fairly spacious 
greenhouse with either steam-heat or hot water. Still 
much more satisfaction may be looked for from an outlay 
of fifteen hundred. With a greenhouse so costly, the 
professional gardener comes in. Then, from being a de¬ 
light, the greenhouse falls to the rank of a simple luxury. 

All that has been said of fitting the true greenhouse 
applies with equal force to the heated glass-house. Fur¬ 
ther, plants in both must have a generous water-supply, 
with hose connections, for spraying. They must have 
also a great plenty of manure—liquid manure and manure 



Eleven] #mnf)ottsts anti plants 


217 


perfectly rotted. The soil for most plants, indeed, is best 
made one-third of this rotted manure. With artificial 
heat, use richer soil and more liquid manure than when 
the sun alone is the source. Growing things, especially 
those rampantly growing, take up quantities of food that 
would sour and scald plants in feeble growth or partly 
dormant. 

Keep a box of earth for potting and repotting where it 
will not get dusty, yet stay dry enough to crumble. The 
best mixture is one-third rotted manure, one-third loam, 
the other third equal parts of sand and leaf-mould. Root 
cuttings in pure sand, keeping it constantly wet. Woody 
things root best if the slip is of wood just fairly grown, 
but not quite hard. Things hard to slip—that is, those 
which are shy of taking root—should have a small tum¬ 
bler turned over them after planting, and not removed 
until the bud inside has grown to a young shoot. Cut¬ 
tings of two to three eyes are best. Cut cleanly; leave 
no bruised nor jagged edges. With rose cuttings pull 
off all but one leaf-stalk, and snip that back to a single 
leaflet. Plant them slightly aslant, heads to the sun, with 
the bud standing horizontal, not straight on top. Set the 
same sort in lines or clutches, and mark them, putting a 
line of cord or thin wood between the sorts. 

Soft cuttings, as geraniums, begonias, bougainvilliers, 
and all their tribe, require stronger heat than roses. 
Heliotrope roots very readily, chrysanthemums for the 
barest chance. It is a mistake to keep over old chrysan¬ 
themum roots, except the hardy ones which stand in great 
beds outdoors. All the fine fringy sorts, and the fancy 
dwarfs, bloom ever so much better from cuttings rooted 
in December or January. Professional chrysanthemum- 
growers often root the cuttings of late sorts from an early 
cutting, taken after the fall flowering. The new cuttings 
are set out in May or June, in a bench of the richest 
possible earth, inside the greenhouse. They are planted 





218 Household Economy [Chapter 


eight inches or a foot apart in the bench, and pinched in to 
a straight stalk, which produces a single monstrous bloom. 
All summer they are fed with liquid manure, and sprayed 
in between plentifully with water that has the chill off. 
Then in November they burst out gloriously under the 
glass into the riotous fringy flowers as big as the two 
fists, that fetch their own weight in silver. 

A greenhouse always in commission—that is to say, 
one keeping on hand ferns, palms, and general greenery 
—needs to have the glass whitewashed all over, and in 
summer to be very well ventilated. The whitewash not 
only softens the light, but helps in keeping down insect 
enemies, which make so much of the winter-gardener’s 
trouble. He keeps them in check partly by prevention, 
but more by making his plants run away from them. 
With greenhouse temperature and moisture, it is no feat 
at all for a plant to grow so fast sucking things cannot 
harm it. 

How to Fight Pests 

Red spider, the minute, almost invisible pest, is best 
fought with smoke and water. Plenty of water liberally 
applied will in general prevent its appearance, if the plants 
are healthy in the beginning. Once a month shut the 
greenhouse tight, set a pan of live coals upon the floor, 
and burn a pound of tobacco-stems. Keep shut for six 
hours, then open and air well. Tobacco-smoke will kill 
red spider, but the fumigation must be repeated as new 
crops hatch out from remnant eggs. Red spider attacks 
almost any growing thing, but is especially partial to rose 
trees, palms, azaleas, and some of the finer ferns. 

For mould and mildew, either fumigate by burning sul¬ 
phur in a closed house and airing afterward, or spray 
plentifully with the Bordeaux mixture. (See Chapter 
on Disinfectants.) Be careful to weaken it so it will not 
scald the plants. Try it by first showering a plant of the 



Eleven] (ireentjouses anti Pants 


219 


tenderest sort, and letting it stand twelve hours. If the 
leaves wilt and droop, the mixture is hurtfully strong. 
Powdered hellebore in water, delivered as fine spray, is a 
potent insecticide, and also good against some forms of 
blight, but rather too costly for extensive use. 

Carbolic acid in the whitewash, which should be freely 
used inside the greenhouse, low down as well as on the 
sash, helps to keep out all sorts of pests. Carbolic soap¬ 
suds, rather weak, is also a good plant wash. Try a few 
leaves in it, so as not to have it too strong. Plain white 
soap-suds is also good. Suds made with resin soap 
leaves a deposit that attracts dust, and therefore hurts 
more than it is likely to help. 

Rats and mice require both prevention and cure. Stop 
up their runs with plaster, plentifully mixed with broken 
glass, then tack sheet-tin over the place where the run 
comes into the house. Further, keep traps set and baited 
constantly. Look at them twice a day; if one is even 
sprung, burn it out and bait it afresh, so as to catch the 
maurauder next time. Sometimes one can banish rats, 
when all else fails, by mixing very thick syrup with caustic 
potash, powdered, and smearing it well over where the 
creatures run about. The potash sticks to their feet, and 
burns; in the effort to lick it off, Master Rat gets his 
mouth also burned, sometimes fatally. Poisons are un¬ 
wise; if rats die in the walls, the resulting odours are as 
hurtful to healthy plants as to human beings. 

Slugs, roaches, crickets, and earth-worms, the green¬ 
house has also to contend with. Eternal vigilance is, in¬ 
deed, as nearly the price of hothouse flowers as of liberty. 
For the slugs, hand-picking sometimes avails, but with 
a house badly infested, try poisoned bait. Make it of 
arsenic, white sugar, and wheat-bran, in equal quantities 
—say a spoonful of each. Wet it lightly with warm wa¬ 
ter, then drop in dabs at the root of the plant most in¬ 
fested. Slugs harbour in earth, and crawling out of it 




220 


Household Economy [Chapter 


will attack the bait before going further. Usually the 
subsequent proceedings interest them no more. 

Poison roaches and crickets by setting all about on the 
floor, under the bench, and especially close about the pipes, 
shallow saucers, with white sugar and borax sprinkled 
thick in the bottom. Arsenic may be added to the mixt¬ 
ure, but sometimes turns the insect stomach. If arsenic 
is used, a better way is to mix it with twice its bulk of 
very finely powdered sugar, then to dip in the mixture 
cut apples and potatoes, and strew them liberally about 
the greenhouse, cut-side down. Poison and scatter last 
thing at night. Early next morning go around with a 
bucket half-full of water, gather up the apples and pota¬ 
toes quickly, and drop them in the bucket. Many insects 
will go with them. Sweep up all dead insects in sight, 
and burn the poisoned bait and the dead things as quickly 
as possible. Thus there is no chance that a water-supply 
may be poisoned, or anything more innocent or more 
valuable than a cockroach suffer death. 

Earth-worms feed in the pots, preying upon tender 
roots, and drawing to themselves the fatness of the earth 
which should go to nourish the plant. The remedy for 
them is lime-water. (See Chapter on Insecticides.) 
Stick holes in the earth with a stout skewer quite to the 
bottom of the pot, pour in the lime-water until it stands 
at the top of all the holes, then leave it to seep through. 
Most generally the worms will crawl up to the surface 
to avoid it, and thus can be raked off. But if they are 
big and bold, as in pots or boxes about big plants, it is 
better to poison cabbage or turnip leaves with arsenic and 
sugar, sprinkled on while the greens are damp, and lay 
them here and there over the pot surface at night. If 
at morning even one leaf is half-eaten, or half-dragged 
down, be encouraged. In time every worm will get his 
dose. 

If a greenhouse sours from any cause—too much heat, 



Eleven] Greenhouses anti plants 


221 


too much fertiliser, or too little ventilation—fumigate it 
well with sulphur, but open the sash in a quarter of an 
hour, spray the floor, pipes, and outsides of big tubs with 
tepid soda-water, a pound of soda to five gallons of water; 
then, when the house is a little drained, dust all the plants 
lightly with powdered quicklime, mixed with its own 
bulk of very dry powdered corn-starch and one-tenth as 
much flowers of sulphur. Shake the powder out of mus¬ 
lin or cheese-cloth bags, so as to speck or, rather, frost 
all the foliage without covering any of it. Or the powder 
may be blown from a fine-nozzled bellows. A bag at the 
end of a long light pole is, however, most convenient. 

House Plants 

The greenhouse has all the world of flowers for its 
parish. The living-room, less lucky, must content itself 
with what will thrive and grow in it. The list is none 
so long, but still full of choice things. Palms, for exam¬ 
ple. It is scarcely worth while to attempt house-culture 
of more than half-a-dozen species; but why complain 
when that half-dozen includes the fern-like Kentia , the 
lusty round-leaved Lantana Borbonica, and the stiff Old 
World grace of the sago palm! 

These, and about as many more, will thrive and 
burgeon in a sunny window, of temperature that never 
goes lower than fifty degrees. High heat does not hurt 
them; they are all children of the tropics. But great and 
sudden alternations of heat and comparative cold make 
the leaves spot, and look raggedly disconsolate. Give 
them plenty of pot-room, but not too much. Shift once 
a year, if growth requires it, but not oftener. Once in 
two years is more likely to be right, unless the palm’s 
lines have fallen in exceptionally sunny and well-aired 
places. 

Fertilise every fortnight. A palm in fair growth needs 




222 Household Economy [Chapter 


a teaspoonful of ammoniated bone-meal, either dug in 
about the roots, or stirred well through tepid water and 
poured over the pot. In between fertilisings water well, 
but not too well. Never let water stand in the saucer 
around the pot. But in watering, keep on until a little 
shows through. That is proof that the earth is properly 
soaked. After such soaking, leave it untouched until 
there are little dry blotches upon the upper surface. 

Beware the ordinary jardiniere. Many a good palm 
and true has died of hideous red or yellow glazed earthen¬ 
ware. Palm roots need air; nice, free-circulating air, 
not that which is damp, and close, and full of mould bred 
by confinement. The dampness alone often rots off the 
fine feeding rootlets, and sets up decay that at last runs 
on to the main stalk. Keep the pots clean outside. There 
is hardly a hue more artistic than that of clean, dull red 
earth. 

No palm will thrive unless its fronds are kept clean. 
In a state of nature, tropic rains and whirlwinds look out 
for that. Art must in a degree imitate nature. Wher¬ 
ever a palm is not too big, the way to wash it is in a bath¬ 
tub three parts full of tepid suds. Take the palm in the 
right hand, head down, and plunge it head-first into the 
water, laving and slapping it about, keeping fingers spread 
over the top of the pot, so it shall not drop out. If it is 
very dirty, tie a cloth over the pot, so the ball of earth 
cannot slip out of it, then lay the plant, pot and all, in 
the tub, the pot upon its side. There rub and scrub both 
very well. After the scrubbing is done, set the pot up¬ 
right, draw off the water, and half-fill the tub with clear 
water; then lay the plant down again, and turn it over 
and over, until the leaves, stalks, stems, and pot, are thor¬ 
oughly rinsed. With a finely cut palm it is best to tie 
the leaves with a soft thick string loosely to a stout stick 
thrust firmly into the pot. This insures against breaking 
off, or even straining the crown in the wash of the tub. 




Eleven] (Greenhouses a no plants 


223 


Drain off the rinsing water, set the pot again upright, 
and leave it to drip for an hour. If the leaves were tied, 
untie them, and shake them well about. Spread a sheet 
of paper upon the floor where there is good light, set the 
palm in the middle of the spread, and look it carefully 
over. If there are any reddish lines or blotches upon 
the under side of the leaves, wash them off with a 
soft cloth and weak, very weak, carbolic soap-suds. 
The red blotches mean red spider, which in the house 
it is hard either to drown out or smoke out. By con¬ 
stant watchfulness, one may keep him completely in 
check. 

Look also for rust blotches. They mean generally too 
much water every day. If they appear, cut off the rusty 
parts unsparingly, and let the pot dry out a couple of days 
at least, then water well with lime-water (see Disin¬ 
fectants), let dry three days; then water with clean wa¬ 
ter, but be sparing of it, until all signs of rust disappear. 
Clip off dried tips; they mean that the air of the living- 
room is too dry. Correct the dryness at once. (See 
Chapter on Heating.) Air too dry for plant lungs is like¬ 
wise too dry for human lungs. 

The next thing is oiling. Rain-washed tropic palms 
do not have soap in their baths. Hence they are not 
robbed of any part of their natural gloss. Since soap is 
necessary to cleanly health, the thing to do is to give back 
what has been taken away. Pour a little pure olive or 
pure cotton-seed, or poppy or pea-nut oil, in a saucer; the 
essential thing is to have a vegetable oil. Make a soft 
swab by tying a bit of absorbent cotton in a silk rag, dip 
the swab in the oil lightly, and go over the palm fronds 
with it, first upon the under side, close to the stalk, and 
then upon the upper side. Do not dip the swab afresh 
to go over the upper side; there must not be oil enough 
there to catch dust. Then go all over the fronds on both 
sides with a clean dry swab. Do the work very gently, 




224 


Household Economy [Chapter 


so as not to bruise the fronds. With sago palms all that 
is needed is to oil the stiff mid-rib. 

Treat ferns exactly as directed for palms, save and ex¬ 
cept the oiling. Tie up the fronds rather closely before 
they go in the bath, and let the pot get a soaking as well. 
Squares of cheese-cloth or old lawn are good to tie over 
the pots. Set the pot in the middle of the square, and 
knot the ends across. The best house-ferns are the so- 
called “ Boston ” fern, the small sword fern with black 
stems, and the asparagus fern. The whole maiden-hair 
family is beautiful beyond expression, but it is idle to 
think of keeping them in good condition outside a fernery 
or a greenhouse. With a glass fern-case, the most that 
is needed is not to give too much water, to keep the glass 
always clean and clear of lint, and now and then to fer¬ 
tilise with dissolved bone-meal. Such a case needs to 
be set away from the source of heat, where it will get 
light, but no direct sun-rays. 

The immortelle of house-plants is the rubber-plant; 
still, there are people for whom even rubber-plants will 
not grow. The sturdy stocky things need plenty of pot- 
room, great plenty of fertiliser, a fair degree of warmth 
and moisture, and a very great deal of sunshine. To 
make them branch low down is often in the nature of a 
problem. It can be done by almost starving the plant, 
keeping it away from light and heat, with very little wa¬ 
ter, until all the leaves fall, save one or two at the tip. 
This, of course, in an early stage; say when the plant is 
a foot high. After the leaves have dropped, repot, giv¬ 
ing very rich earth, set in sunshine, water freely, and fer¬ 
tilise every fortnight. If growth begins at the tip, tie 
a cord just below the bud—not tight enough to cut the 
bark, but to slightly compress the vessels of it. In six 
weeks buds will be likely to start from several of the 
cicatrices left by the fallen leaves. Rub off all that are 
superfluous, and give those chosen every chance to de- 




Eleven] Jlreenfjouses anti pants «s 

velop. By and by take off the string around the central 
stalk. It is no longer needed when the branches are well 
established, and each pushing up for itself. Wash rub¬ 
ber-plants a leaf at a time; they are commonly too un¬ 
handy for the bath-tub. Every month or so oil the 
leaves as directed for palms, but put the oil only on the 
glossy upper side; the lower side must not have its 
breathing-pores choked. 

There are a few roses that will bloom in the house for 
people who understand them. But in the main a rose- 
tree seldom pays for the trouble it entails, unless, indeed, 
it is a cherished one, taken in over winters, to save it from 
death. Even then it had better be set in a big box down 
in the cellar, or even hung up in the cellar, head down¬ 
ward. This if the cellar is damp and mild. In furnace- 
heat any sort of root would be dried to death. A strong 
young rose, pot-grown from the start, which has been 
pinched of every bud throughout the summer, may flower 
beautifully through a winter. But it will need to be set 
in the border again in the spring after repotting, and to 
grow throughout a whole season, and rest over winter, 
before it can be depended on for another winter’s bloom. 
The best sorts are the free-blooming loose-leaved tea 
roses, such pink roses as Hermosa, and, among shaded 
pinks, La France. Any rose-grower’s catalogue indicates 
accurately the best house-blooming sorts. They need 
plenty of heat and sunlight, plenty of water, a weekly 
shower-bath—every leaf should be dripping—and a 
monthly tepid plunge. Fertilise well, and sprinkle a very 
little sulphur over the top of the pot. If red spider ap¬ 
pears, get the smokers of the household to sit close beside 
the roses while enjoying their cigars. The reward of 
all this pains should be abundant and lasting bloom. One 
rose unfolded thus beneath the eye is worth a boxful from 
the florist. 

Bulbs, especially lilies, make charming house-plants, 




226 Household Economy [Chapter 


doubly charming in that they thrive with so little care, 
and have so few of the enemies which plague woody 
things. The scarlet Amaryllis, of which there are half-a- 
dozen sorts, each sufficiently gorgeous, shows handsome 
long green leaves the year round, very nearly as dec¬ 
orative as those of the costly Draccna; then in early spring 
sends up a tall stalk crowned with three to four truly 
royal blossoms. It is, moreover, cheap; fifty cents will 
buy a bulb certain to flower. Plant in a six-inch pot, 
nearly full of rich earth, set where it has good light, water 
and fertilise well. The bulb lives on from year to year, 
sending up richer and richer blooms each season. For 
every bloom-stalk there comes an off-set, a small bulb, 
which may be separated, and brought to flowering in 
three years more. Do not leave the off-sets around the 
parent bulb. They will end by choking it, without ever 
equalling it. 

Japan lilies, Easter lilies, tulips, hyacinths, tube-roses, 
the many-hued savage gladiolus, all, all thrive in pots, 
and can be made to supply a succession of bloom. Bulbs 
of every sort should be kept dark for some weeks after 
planting. Aside from that, the care of them is so easy 
a child or a simpleton can hardly go astray. All need 
pot-room, a rich earth, and an even temperature. Pots 
may be kept in a cellar, or bath-room, or kitchen, until 
almost ready to flower, then take their place in the win¬ 
dow. With a cellar, by potting a number and moving 
out the pots in succession, one can have flowers from bulbs 
through an almost indefinite time. 

Callas do well in big pots which can be left undis¬ 
turbed for years. After blooming is over, let the plants 
gradually dry out, and, when leaves and stalks die down, 
set them away out of reach by rats or mice for a season 
of rest. Turn the pots on the side, and place outdoors 
if possible. Along in August set the pots upright, and 
water sparingly until new leaves peep through. Then 




Eleven] (Hreenljouses anti plants 


227 


give plenty of water, and fertilise. The calla can be kept 
green the year round, but will not produce such fine blooms 
nor near so many of them. 

Azaleas are commonly bought from the florist so 
drunken with bloom it takes two years of care and coax¬ 
ing to bring them back to normal condition. As soon 
as they shed their crowns of blossom, they should be cut 
back at all ragged tips, and set where they will have a 
good light, but not too much sun. Water freely, but not 
too often; every two days is enough. Give no fertiliser 
till the tips show signs of new growth. Then fertilise 
but very lightly; a teaspoonful of bone-meal a month is 
enough. If there is a garden border available, in June 
set the azalea there, and let it stand until October. Repot 
then, but do not look for blooms next spring. Be satis¬ 
fied if the plant has healthy green leaves, and shows even 
half-a-dozen bloom buds. A winter of rest, another bor¬ 
der summer, will bring it to the estate of bloom again, 
but not to such over-luxuriance as the florist and the 
greenhouse had forced upon it. 

W indow-Gardens 

The first essential of a successful window-garden is 
stocky well-grown plants, ready and willing to grow and 
blow, instead of things forced unhealthily into over-lux¬ 
uriance of bloom and leaf. These stocky plants, full of 
unexhausted vitality, are not easily bought. At least it 
is hard to buy them in the right condition if one waits 
until the window-garden season fully opens. 

Raising one’s own plants from slips, or seeds, or roots, 
is far and away the best. Where that is out of the ques¬ 
tion, buy plants very early; a month at least before they 
can be set out, or, better still, six weeks. Choose healthy 
plants just coming into bloom. But do not permit fur¬ 
ther bloom. Cut off blossoms and buds with a remorse- 




228 


Household Economy [Chapter 


less hand, cut back foliage also, but more sparingly, and 
with an eye to future developments. That is to say, 
pinch out ends of straggling shoots, or clip away weecly 
laterals. Aim to make the plant compact; not round- 
headed like a cabbage, but so well balanced the pot can 
be spun on edge without tipping over. 

Set the plants in a moderate light, and gradually harden 
them by letting in more and more air every day. For the 
first fortnight give no fertiliser; let them rest, and “ find 
themselves ” in their new environment. When they be¬ 
gin to open pert new leaves, and show signs of pushing 
out fresh bloom-stalks, give dissolved ammoniated bone- 
meal, half-a-teaspoonful to a small plant. Shower the 
foliage plentifully every other day, using tepid water at 
first, and making it gradually cooler. The end of all this 
pother is to undo what has been done in the forcing proc¬ 
ess, namely, to bring the plant back to that estate in life 
which would belong to it if normally developed. 

Still, plants thus bought will never quite come up to 
those raised in the home boxes. Especially if they are 
seedlings—such things as verbenas, calceolarias, cinnera- 
rias, petunias, and nasturtiums. Nasturtiums, petunias, 
and verbenas are the ones best worth while for window¬ 
gardening. All of these have a season of bloom as long 
as the summer; also a graceful semi-pendant habit of 
growth that fits them especially into window-garden 
spaces. Seed are best sown early in January—in a box 
under a big pane of glass if nothing else is at hand. Mix 
petunia seed with dust or ashes before sowing, do not 
cover any of them, but press the earth down gently, and 
water with a very fine rose, or else by spraying with a 
brush. Prick out and shift like hotbed plants. (See 
Chapter on Gardens.) By mid-May the plants should be 
stout and well rooted, ready to burst in blossom at the 
least provocation. 

Nasturtiums make magnificent window-gardens. Use 



Eleven] <§reeni)ou0es anti plants 


several sorts together; the trailing ones near the edge, the 
dwarf and bush-growing ones foaming over the box-sur¬ 
face proper. In colour they run the whole gamut of 
velvety reds and crimsons, and oranges and yellows, with 
some approaching white, and others verging as nearly 
on black. It is impossible to set a well-grown nasturtium 
where it will not be a thing of beauty, but one never real¬ 
ises fully how very beautiful the plants are until one sees 
them thus massed in their own loveliness. Nasturtiums 
do well in partly shaded windows, as easterly or north¬ 
easterly, with only the morning sun. If a screen is de¬ 
sirable, the whole box can be filled with the trailing sorts, 
and the inner row trained to cover a light wire trellis. 

For a north window, with only the earliest morning 
sun, Japanese morning-glories are ideal. They come in 
all colours; a ten-cent packet of mixed seed sown under 
glass in January, potted, and shifted, should fill two big 
boxes. The flowers have a crepey texture, and all man¬ 
ner of delicate markings. The vines grow sufficiently, 
but less rampantly, than the common morning-glory. 
They make fine wreathy trails over the box-edge, and will 
also climb and cover a wire-screen. The blossoms open 
at daybreak, and thus sheltered from the sun, stay open 
until a little after noon. The only trouble is to clip the 
fallen blossoms every day, as, if they are allowed to ripen 
as seed-heads, the season of growth and bloom will be 
brief. 

Flowering geraniums make a brave show in window- 
boxes, but for the best effect it is well to have only one 
colour. Strong-growing single sorts, of either pink, or 
white, or scarlet, with showy trusses and a habit of pro¬ 
fuse bloom, are best. Choose among pinks those with 
rich creamy or, rather, salmon tones—the purply pink 
ones do not flower well in summer heat. A good edging 
for a line of blooming geraniums is German ivy. Set 
three strong plants in a row at the outer edge of the win- 



230 


Household Rconomy [Chapter 


dow-box, and let all the stems trail over the side. Peg 
down a branch of geranium here and there over the sur¬ 
face, or else fill in bare spots with clumps of alyssum or 
pale-blue myosotis. 

Woody plants — as azaleas, dwarf evergreens, hy¬ 
drangeas, and rubber-trees—are out of place in a window- 
garden. In the nature of things it is ephemeral, there¬ 
fore make it a show place of passing summer bloom. 
But in an invalid’s room, with a window looking north, 
it may be well to set up a year-around window-garden, 
and there the evergreens, and pots of ivy, and privet 
come beautifully into play. 

Indeed, an indoor window-garden may be made a con¬ 
tinuing delight. A bay window is best for it, but any 
deeply embrasured one will answer. Do not have 
shelves across it. Set some tall, handsome plant upon 
the floor, a little to one side, and hang from the casing 
overhead upon the other side, a basket of trailing green 
—German ivy, asparagus-fern, or any light and graceful 
vine. Screw folding arm-brackets, with flower-pot hold¬ 
ers at the ends of the arms, irregularly up and down the 
window-casing upon either side. Then shift pots and 
plants about, trying them in all combinations until satis¬ 
fied with the result. 

The bottom of the window-recess should be fitted with 
a light zinc tray, coming out several inches wider than 
the recess. In this mass standing plants about the main 
one, either as foils or accessories. The tray catches the 
drip when the pots are watered, and permits watering the 
standing plants without disturbing them. Window cur¬ 
tains, of course, are impossible, but one may trail over 
all the panes a rare tapesty of vines and leaves and 
blooms. 

As to the window-box proper, the actual receptacle of 
roots and earth, one may spend nearly as much or as little 
as one chooses. A fairly good wooden box, fitted to the 



Eleven] <§reeni)ouses anti plants 


231 


window with hooks and staples for fastening, and painted 
a dull inconspicuous green, may be had for a dollar; in 
some places half that amount. Against that set tile- 
boxes, in silver or silver-gilt mountings, or boxes with 
stained-glass panels outside, both of which cost a very 
pretty penny. In between there are boxes and boxes. 
The one thing needful is that the box shall be staunch, and 
so set it may not threaten the heads or the lives of unwary 
passers-by. Fill it with the earth advised for house- 
plants. But before filling, see that there are holes in the 
bottom sufficient to insure drainage, and over the whole 
bottom spread a layer of broken crocks or pebbles fully 
an inch deep. Put the earth on this to within an inch of 
the box-top. Even a small box should not be less than 
ten inches high. A foot is better; thus the plants have 
sufficient soil. 

Plant the edgings first. Set whatever is chosen so the 
stems shall stand over the box-edge slightly slanted out¬ 
ward. Pack the earth well about the edge plants, and 
see that their roots are spread, not crowded in a little 
lump. Make holes close along the inner edge for the row 
of flowering plants. In growth they will reach for air 
and light, both roots and branches, so the insetting will 
help them to room. If vines are wanted for trailing over 
the inner edge, bring back long well-grown sprays from 
the outside, in preference to setting out creeping things 
inside as well as out. 

Aim in window-gardening to have the greatest possible 
spread of leaf, vine, and bloom, with the fewest possible 
roots. Crowding one thing on another makes a show for 
a day—for a week even; but, if a window-garden is to 
be an all-summer pleasure, it must be so planned and 
managed there will be room for growth. As things grow 
pinch them back, nipping very tender shoots, almost buds, 
so as not to let them waste strength. Examine daily for 
insects. If they are found, spray freely with tobacco 




23 2 


Household Economy 


water, or hellebore and water. Make the tobacco-water 
by pouring a gallon of boiling water upon a pound of 
tobacco-stems. In use, dilute one-half, and apply tepid. 

Everybody knows enough to water a window-garden 
freely, but precious few recognise the importance of dust¬ 
ing plants well before watering them. Almost invariably 
window-garden plants collect dust freely. If water 
comes on top of the dust, it may take some of it away, 
but will leave more behind. In proof look at a dusty 
roadside hedge as it dries after a washing rain. There 
will be streaks, splotches, and spatters of wet dust, turn¬ 
ing again to dry dust on at least half the leaves. So, be¬ 
fore watering a window-garden, go all over the plants, 
especially those that are shrubby in growth or have rough 
leaves, as the begonia tribe, with a very soft thick bristle¬ 
brush, tipping and shaking until the loose dust is gone. 
Then, and not till then, shower the whole garden abun¬ 
dantly. But do not regard showering as a sufficient 
watering. Soak the earth at the plant roots after the 
showering is over. In very hot weather water three 
times a day—at sunrise, noon, and at twilight. 

In very hot and dusty weather, especially in late mid¬ 
summer, shade window-gardens as much as possible from 
the mid-day sun. With awnings, that is easy. If there 
are no awnings, put two screw eyes in the upper sash in 
line with each other, run a stick through them to stand 
out flag-pole fashion a yard beyond the wall, and drape 
over it, tent-wise, a breadth of green cambric, for several 
hours at the middle of the day. Pin the outer edges to¬ 
gether, and fasten the lower inner corners to the corners 
of the box. The flowers in it will appreciate the green 
shade, and make returns for it in prolonged bloom and 
delicious freshness. 



Chapter TWELVE 

SPumbtns anti Sanitation 

I F the walls of a house are its bones, then plumbing 
must stand for veins and arteries. Hence, whether 
buying, building, or renting, it behoves every home¬ 
maker to look well to the ways of it, and, fur¬ 
ther, to know enough to make such looking ef¬ 
fective. While the technics of plumbing constitute a 
science not easily mastered, certain concrete details are 
within the simplest comprehension, and it is these con¬ 
crete details with which home-makers have the nearest 
concern. 

In building, whatever else is skimped or bargained over, 
let the plumbing estimate be generous. As far as pos¬ 
sible have the work done by men who take pride in effi¬ 
ciency. It may seem sarcasm to refer to a plumbing 
conscience, yet it certainly exists. There are plumbers 
and plumbers; some as scampish as they are autocratic, 
but very many more with the full complement of artisan 
pride in doing not merely fair work, but the best work 
possible. Such work seems dear, yet in the end is really 
cheap. Witness this case in point. A home-maker who 
had bought a house had it newly plumbed throughout be¬ 
fore moving in. Two plumbers bid for the work, one 
fifty dollars less than the other. Of course the cheaper 
man got the job; he also got through with it very quickly. 
Upon the face of it he did good work. The basins, fit¬ 
tings, and so on, were trig and true. No water dripped 

233 


234 


Household Economy [Chapter 


from any faucet, and the pipes, so far as they were visible, 
bore every test. Notwithstanding, the house was haunt¬ 
ed. Sewer-gas odours rose up in the most unexpected 
places. Inside six months the bath-room and closet were 
pulled up three times in the effort to find the leak, with¬ 
out discovering anything amiss. Then, providentially, 
something got wrong with the tubs. In taking up the 
floor under them, it was found that a space of six inches 
in the main house-drain had no regular pipe, but had been 
temporarily closed in with a sheet of bent tin. A work¬ 
man hurrying to finish up the job had put in the tin rather 
than go back to the shop for a piece of pipe lacking. 
First and last, the householder paid something more than 
a hundred dollars for the fifty-dollar saving, besides risk¬ 
ing life and health, and enduring much discomfort. 

Good Plumbing 

Perfect plumbing requires three separate sets of pipes, 
all running down into the main house-pipe which connects 
with the sewer. First, there are leaders for rain or snow 
water. Commonly they run outside, or are partly incased 
in the wall. Corrugated metal is better than smooth for 
them, since, if they fill and freeze in bitter weather, the 
rough pipe bears the strain better than the smooth. Next 
come the waste-water pipes, draining baths, sinks, and 
so on, and, last and most important of all, the soil-pipes, 
which carry off the wash of closets and urinals. 

Leaders begin at the roof just well under the eaves. 
Waste and soil pipes run up several feet higher than the 
roof. Otherwise they would be a menace, and fill the 
house with sewer-gas. To each of them there is attached 
a smaller pipe, whose use is to secure what is known tech¬ 
nically as back-ventilation. It goes out from the pipe 
below the lowermost plumbing fixture, and comes back 
into it above the highest. All along it is joined by other 




HOUSE-PIPES-HOW THEY RUN 




































































































































































































































































Twelve] ^piumtung anlj §j>atutattott =ss 


small pipes, one from the crown of every trap. Thus, 
when a trap is flushed, the air in the pipe underneath does 
not struggle and gurgle through the water and finally pass 
into the room, but is forced easily downward before the 
flush-water, followed by clean air from the pipe in the 
crown. 

All this is easily demonstrated practically. Fill a tall 
narrow bottle with water, turn it upside down, and watch 
the struggle of air and water as it empties itself. Refill 
it, again invert it, then break it slightly at the highest 
point. As soon as the break admits air, the water drops 
out magically without a gurgle or splash. 

The best plumbing means that which is simplest, 
straightest, and least. The nearer the three sets of pipes 
come to running directly up and down, the better for 
health and purse. These are the pipe materials in their 
order of desirability: Lead, brass, wrought iron, gal¬ 
vanised iron. In all cities of the first class the use of 
earthen pipe inside a building is strictly forbidden. In 
New York no earthen pipe may be laid nearer than ten 
feet of a house-wall. Whatever the material, pipes 
should take the shortest course possible. If they run 
in any place horizontally, it is imperative to have them so 
supported that sagging is out of the question. The least 
small sag means a potential leak and plague-spot. This 
is especially true of the main house-pipe—the horizontal 
pipe into which the others empty, and which finally takes 
the house-waste into the sewer. This should have a fall 
of at least a quarter-inch in the foot. If storm-water is 
led into it outside, the area drains should be as carefully 
trapped as any other. 

A most important adjunct of the house-pipe is the 
fresh-air pipe. Most commonly it leaves the house-pipe 
just inside the house-trap, which is placed close to the 
cellar-wall, and runs up and out, to reach open air, ending 
maybe a foot above-ground with a proper revolving-cowl. 




236 


Household Economy [Chapter 


But in the best and newest plumbing systems the fresh-air 
pipe runs to and through the roof, going a little higher 
than the end of the soil-pipe. Thus the flow of air 
through the pipes is sensibly augmented and e purer, 
yet all danger of fouling windows, either low t. high, is 
done away with. 

Traps 

Traps are the vital points of all sorts and conditions of 
plumbing. The S-trap in some shape is now all but uni¬ 
versal. The end and aim of a trap is to bar with a water- 
seal the entrance of sewer-gas, which is more properly 
sewer-air. Upon this point there is a lively dispute. 
Some of the wise men say there is a specific toxic exhala¬ 
tion from sewage, others that sewer-gas, so-called, is 
only air tainted with sulphuretted and carburetted hydro¬ 
gen, carbonic acid, and various gaseous products of 
decomposing human waste. 

But let nobody be lulled into false security. Every inch 
of inside pipe-surface shelters countless millions of bac¬ 
teria, harmless so long as use keeps the pipes wet, but 
ready for deadly mischief as soon as the pipe dries. Hence 
the importance of flushing daily unused fixtures. Hence, 
too, the danger in occupying a house disused or closed 
without the most thorough flushing of all plumbing, and 
at least a twenty-four hours’ airing. The very first thing 
to do when preparing to occupy such a dwelling is to set 
a short bit of candle upon the cellar-floor, and see how 
well it burns there. If it goes out inside an hour, open 
all doors and windows, start fires, and do whatever else 
is possible to set up a brisk circulation of air. Long- 
escaped sewer-gas divides itself, the light ill-smelling 
hydrogens going into upper air, and the heavy carbonic 
acid sinking. This stale carbonic acid has no distinct 
bad smell, but rather one lifeless and stifling. It is, in 
fact, identical with the “ choke-damp ” so fatal in coal 



237 


Twelve] ^plumbing anti Sanitation 

mines. Mixed with other lighter gases it becomes fire¬ 
damp, and may explode with more or less force if brought 
in contact with flames. 

Harking back to trap-seals, the water-seal is the water 
which, after flushing, remains in the lower bend of the S, 
standing well above the projection, and thus permitting 
nothing gaseous to escape. This seal may be broken in 
several ways. Evaporation is one of them; therefore a 
trap standing in a very warm place must be flushed at 
least twice a day if not in use. Siphonage is another way. 
A third is too great a head of water, especially if the water 
carries along considerable solid matter. Thus laden it 
sometimes sets up suction strong enough to draw the wa¬ 
ter-seal over the bend of the trap. In the same way water 
poured from a considerable height may have force enough 
in flow to take the water-seal along with it. 

Testing Traps and Plumbing 

If the plumbing of a house or apartment is not above 
suspicion by either eye, ear, or nose, insist upon a test 
of it before taking possession. In cities law compels 
landlords to make such tests upon demand. House-own¬ 
ers do not need such compulsion. No person sane and 
sensible wilfully dares the dangers of futile plumbing. 
Testing is neither hard nor easy. For a whole system of 
pipes, there is but one thing infallible—the smoke test. 
To apply it one must have recourse to a master plumber, 
who is usually provided with special apparatus for forcing 
smoke into the house-pipe, but keeping it wholly out of 
the house. If it betrays its presence, even in the slightest, 
inside, then the pipes need a looking after of the most thor¬ 
ough sort. The smoke is specially acrid and pungent, so 
it cannot possibly be mistaken for any other odour. But 
where it goes, sewer-gas can follow. Commonly it has 
preceded the smoke, so the house should be well aired 



238 Household Economy [Chapter 


before one stays in it even a few hours, much less under¬ 
takes to live in it. 

Next to the smoke test comes the peppermint one. Get 
a four-ounce phial of peppermint essence, take care not 
to unstop it, nor let the least taint of it get abroad inside 
the house. Close bath-room doors, closet-lids, and fill 
every trap full of water. Then go upon the roof, open 
the bottle, pour the essence down the soil-pipe, and follow 
it instantly with a gallon of boiling water. Stay upon 
the roof half-an-hour so as not to take back the pepper¬ 
mint smell inside. Let another person go about at the 
end of fifteen minutes, and sniff carefully at all the plumb¬ 
ing fixtures. If there is a flavour of peppermint, it is a 
case for the plumber. If no odour is perceptible, every 
trap is doing its whole duty. 

Where a single trap is suspected, pour peppermint in 
a higher one, holding the bottle inside a cloth, and spread¬ 
ing out the cloth over the trap-mouth so the smell shall 
be closely confined. Then stand beside the suspected trap 
for a few minutes, and note if the peppermint smell comes 
out of it. In testing a sink thus, put the peppermint in a 
big thin glass-bottle, one big enough to cover the sink¬ 
grating, stop the bottle very tight, set it over the grating; 
then spread the cloth over the whole sink, stretch a hand 
under the cloth, and break the bottle upon the grating, 
leaving the top to cover the opening. Open doors and 
windows for a minute, close them, go away, and stay 
half-an-hour. If upon returning the peppermint smell is 
strong, especially around the trap underneath, something 
is in need of immediate attention. 

This is the way to tell whether or no a trap holds its 
seal properly. Pour in a gallon of water very gently, and 
after five minutes mark how high the water stands in the 
trap. Then flush it quickly and forcibly with the full 
head of the cistern. When the water is again still, see 
if it reaches the mark. If it does, the trap is working 





2 39 


Twelve] ^ptumfctng anti §j>anttattoti 


right, but if it is even a half-inch lower, there is danger 
ahead—danger demanding the instant services of a com¬ 
petent plumber. 

To test a trap for sewer-gas, hold a long lighted taper 
just over the water as the trap is flushed. If the flame 
is drawn slightly downward, the plumbing is properly 
ventilated; if it flutters sharply upward, sewer-air is rising 
through the flush-water. The taper flame, of course, will 
burn up; one must judge by any fluttering and swirling, 
such as would be occasioned by little currents of air. 
Where a slow, steady escape of sewer-air is suspected, try 
the candle test. Put a bit of lighted candle in a very low 
candlestick, and set it in the closet, either on the floor or 
close beside the trap. Leave it undisturbed for three 
hours, keeping the bath-room door shut tight all the time. 
Any considerable amount of sewer-gas will bring in 
enough carbonic acid to settle and put out the flame. 

Another test, especially valuable for sink-traps and 
screened traps in general, is that of a silver spoon. Rub 
the spoon as bright as possible, then keep it for twelve 
hours close to the place suspected. Even a trace of sewer- 
gas will blur and begin to tarnish it. The flame test also 
applies in such cases, though less certainly, as the screen 
or grating deflects and breaks up the flow of escaping 
gas. 

Proportion in Plumbing 

Open plumbing is a boon little short of light and air. 
It enables one not merely to see the sort of traps used, and 
their location, but to make sure that proportion is prop¬ 
erly observed. Proportion is all-important for many 
reasons. The chiefest of them is that a pipe too big for 
the water-flow is never properly scoured. Right here it 
may be well to set down that a four-inch pipe requires not 
twice but four times as much water for clean scouring 
as does a two-inch one, and, further, that friction, which 





240 


Household Economy [Chapter 


is the retarding influence in scouring, increases in the same 
ratio. Too big a trap is particularly dangerous. Unless 
every drop of dirty water is forced over, leaving the wa¬ 
ter-seal clean throughout, the trap becomes a miniature 
cesspool, in which waste matter continually decays and 
poisons the atmosphere. No competent nor decently hon¬ 
est plumber, much less one with a shred of conscience, 
thinks of using a trap bigger than the pipe it drains. But 
since there are in all trades artisans not over-burdened 
with either knowledge or scruples, it is well to take every 
chance of knowing the right thing, so one may insist upon 
having it. 

Perfect flushing, which is the end and aim of good 
plumbing, requires a quick, steady flow of sufficient vol¬ 
ume to wholly fill the pipe. Two gallons of water de¬ 
livered in five seconds are far and away more effectual, 
both in moving waste and in cleansing pipes, than five 
gallons dribbled down through a minute. Yet a flow too 
violent is even worse than one too sluggish. Water fall¬ 
ing down carries always the momentum of the whole 
head; thus a single gallon coming with great impetus 
may curl through and over the trap, leaving behind it a 
most insufficient seal. 

Care of Plumbing 

Every closet in daily use should be flushed once a week 
with at least two gallons of boiling water. Every other 
week a gallon of copperas water should be poured into it, 
and alternately with the copperas water a gallon of 
chloride of lime. (See Chapter on Disinfectants.) Use 
plain lime-water if no chloride is at hand. Monthly, but 
not oftener, dissolve a pound of washing-soda in a gallon 
of boiling water, pour the solution into the closet, let it 
stand fifteen minutes; then flush the closet with the full 
head from its own cistern, and follow with a gallon of 




Twelve] ^plumbing anti ^anttatton 


241 


clear boiling water. The soda-water should stand in the 
trap just long enough to clean it thoroughly, but must 
be washed and rinsed away, so it may not attack and eat 
out the lead of the pipes and the solder of the joints. 

Keep sinks clean in the same way, only use the soda 
solution fortnightly, and let it stand longer in the trap, 
as the grease will protect the pipe. Still, be sure to wash 
it out thoroughly. Plain clear lime-water is better for a 
sink than the chloride, which smells to heaven, especially 
in a small or ill-ventilated room. 

To clean the traps underneath set bowls, put half a pint 
of ammonia to the gallon of soda solution. Twice a year 
at least put in the plug, fill the bowl to the brim with the 
ammoniated soda, and let it stand until the solution is 
level with the waste-vent. Tie a bit of absorbent cotton 
strongly upon the end of a coarsish crochet-hook, and, 
with the swab so formed, wash out the vent holes as far 
as it will reach. Use the same sort of swab to clean the 
drains of bowls, bath-tubs, and so on. The cleaner and 
freer running the vents, the better the sanitation. 

Scour brass faucets with tripoli mixed in oil; clean 
silvered ones and all silvered fittings with whiting mixed 
to a paste with alcohol and ammonia. But in scouring 
all sorts of fixtures, be extra careful about keeping the 
scouring-grit out of the joints. Even the finest particles 
quickly cut away screw-threads turning many times a 
day. After scouring, also take care to let the water run 
a minute before catching it for use. Do not wash very 
sandy things, as spinach, potatoes, turnips, or radishes, 
under the faucet, but in a big pan—at least for the first 
water. In emptying the pan, let the water run off, then 
empty the sand at the bottom of it among ashes or 
garbage. A teaspoonful of sand washed down a lead- 
pipe wears and scratches it more than a whole hogshead 
of water. 





242 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Abases of Plumbing 

Those gentlemen, the plumbers, should build a statue 
to the goddess of Carelessness; that is, supposing such 
a deity sits in any pantheon. Certain it is, careful com¬ 
mon sense will rout the plumber and his bill, the most 
dreaded of household spectres. Wise men have been 
studying this ever so long, to devise plumbing that would 
take care of itself. They have not succeeded, nor are they 
likely to do it. At least not without a revolution in me¬ 
chanics whereby the tendency of fluids always to seek 
their own level is eliminated, and other things equally 
wonderful brought to pass. So long as physics remain 
nearly static, so long will it behove those who dwell in 
modern houses not merely to know all about their pipes 
and traps, but to look well to their usage. 

In the care of plumbing, more than almost anything 
else, there are no trifles. A bit of rag, a string, a burnt 
match, or a wisp of hair from the comb, seems a very 
little thing; one that the pipes can carry off with no pos¬ 
sible strain. Wait a bit. The rag or the string hanging 
over the bend of the trap may make itself a siphon to 
empty the water-seal—the water-seal which is the house¬ 
hold defence against the deadly sewer-gas; and the rag 
so caught may keep on doing it unsuspected, week after 
week, until death and disease are rampant. If a faulty 
trap in a big country house had but been a little more 
faulty thirty years back, King Edward VII. would never 
have sat on the English throne. Scarlet, typhoid, and 
typhus fevers, diphtheria, and various other ailments, are 
all specifically “ filth diseases ” bred in nature’s mysterious 
processes of making wholesome again human waste. 

Match-ends ought to float away harming nobody, but 
are ever so much likelier to be caught by some eddy of 
flush-water, jammed into a crevice, and there take to them¬ 
selves other solid particles until they form a clot of decay, 




243 


Twelve] ^piumtung anti ii>attttatton 


alike offensive and dangerous. Still, in the matter of 
mischief-making, nothing quite comes up to the wisp of 
hair, which quickly forms itself into a sort of strainer, 
catching and holding stuff that should pass by. Worse 
still, it commonly lodges in the most inconvenient place, 
hanging fast to the least roughness or the tiniest projec¬ 
tion inside the pipe, and at last by accretion clogging the 
whole space. Hair has a most special affinity for bits of 
soap. Solid soap is another thing to be religiously kept 
out of pipes. Even very strong soap-suds do harm unless 
followed at once with a flood of clear water, preferably 
hot water. 

Either coffee-grounds or tea-leaves will clog a sink- 
pipe. They will also wear it out very quickly. This 
partly by mechanical means, partly by chemical ones. 
Drain both very dry, and throw among ashes, unless the 
tea-leaves are kept for sprinkling carpets before sweeping. 
In a sink-pipe, even though all grease is kept out, they 
breed smells. Then in the sewer, where grease is in¬ 
evitable, they will cake and clog distressingly, often to 
the point of making necessary a costly and troublesome 
unclogging. 

Every kitchen should have its grease-can for refuse 
fat of every sort, even the scrapings of greasy plates and 
dishes. Empty this can twice a week in winter, every 
other day in summer. Let greasy water, as from boiling 
hams or corned beef, cool thoroughly, and take off the 
grease before pouring the water in the sink. All greasy 
vessels need to be rinsed with hot soda-water before wash¬ 
ing. Let them stand some little time after the water is 
poured in; thus the grease becomes in a measure saponi¬ 
fied, and is less apt to stick to the pipes, or cake upon top 
of the trap. 

But neither grease, strings, nor tea and coffee grounds 
are the worst things plumbing is called on to encounter. 
Many careless folk do not scruple to throw into a closet 





344 


Household Economy [Chapter 


such things as grape-skins, cherry-pits, nut-shells, and 
carpet-sweepings. The last are the worst. Persistence 
in such practices means disease and a big bill for repairs. 
It may be accepted as axiomatic that nothing should ever 
be thrown into a closet that it is feasible or even possible 
to dispose of in any other way. Under no circumstances 
let anything go there that water will not dissolve. Pipes 
are made to carry off liquids and only such solids as may 
be reduced to a fluid consistency. 

Location of Plumbing 

Let the pipes run straight up and down, with as few 
laterals as possible. This is the first commandment. 
The second is like unto it—beware set bowls and special 
far-off baths. Even though portable baths are less con¬ 
venient, they are ever and ever so much safer. No 
amount of money, nor the most sleepless vigilance, can 
insure that plumbing shall be perfectly safe all the time. 
So for delicate people, old people, and little children, it is 
almost imperative to provide sleeping-rooms that have no 
sort of connection with the plumbing anywhere. 

There may well be a bath-room upon every floor, with 
water in a dressing-room back of or beside it. This lets 
the main pipes keep vertical. But be sure the drains of 
the bath-tubs do not go into the soil-pipes unless they 
have double traps. Be surest of all that there is no con¬ 
nection whatever between the flush-tanks of closets and 
the main water-supply. Of course there is bound to 
be a supply-pipe, but it must be so valved no taint can 
creep from it to the water. Waste-pipes from sinks 
must run separate from soil-pipes clean to the house- 
drain. If there are two sinks, as in kitchen and scullery, 
or pantry, it is well to have one several inches lower than 
the other, and the lowest set nearest the join with the 
house-drain. 





Twelve] Pumfctng anti ^anttattcn =45 


Nursery Sinks 

Keeping nursery sinks clean and sweet is among the 
hardest problems in the care of plumbing. Milk, or 
milky water even, in small quantity daily, fouls pipes 
enormously, and breeds a most evil smell. That is unless 
the milky water is followed almost instantly by a flushing 
of hot soda-water, and at least once in three days is sup¬ 
plemented with a lime-water flush. Sea salt in the lime- 
water, a big lump to the pailful, makes it more effective. 
Heat it almost to boiling, and follow it in a quarter of 
an hour with clear hot water. This should keep the sink 
without odour unless very dirty water, as from washing 
napkins, is also poured into it. If possible, the nursery 
sink should be supplemented with a nursery closet and two 
small porcelain tubs. Clean the traps to all as directed 
for the sink. Nursery waste is in many ways the most 
offensive of all, and the hardest to get rid of. 

Other People’s Plumbing 

In settling upon a home, one needs must look out for 
other people's plumbing. Surroundings often mean 
health or disease. When choosing an apartment, espe¬ 
cially in a tall house, look out of the windows first thing. 
If soil-pipes upon lower adjacent buildings discharge just 
beneath the windows, let the apartment alone; it would 
be dear if one were paid to occupy it. Beyond all this, a 
ramshackle next-door neighbour may let loose enough 
sewer-gas to permeate the house-walls either side, and so 
make dangerous a new and trig erection. Then there are 
various manufacturing plants whose vicinity it is wise to 
avoid. These are among the most undesirable works: 
Alkali, brick, cement, brass, copper, iron, ammonia, and 
India-rubber. Each and several they poison the air 
around for at least a block. While they may not be so 



246 


Household Economy [Chapter 


nauseous as match factories, glue factories, bone-burners, 
and slaughter-houses, they are fully as unwholesome. 
Upon general principles it is the part of wisdom to keep 
away from any sort of neighbour that sends out clouds 
of dust and smoke. 

Cesspools and Earth-drains 

Modern improvements often exist away from sewer 
systems. As to whether or no such existence is wise, each 
householder must personally decide. But it admits of no 
debate that the proper disposal of refuse is something to 
be well considered. With space and sand enough, the 
problem is not a hard one. A porous brick cesspool, laid 
unmortared in sandy ground and cleaned out twice a 
year, will do no harm to anybody, besides proving itself 
a very great convenience. 

It must be used with judgment. Wash-water must be 
kept from it. Indeed, the whole inflow must keep some 
relation to the potential percolation. A cesspool six by 
twelve feet, with a mean depth of nine feet, and a division 
wall of brick across the short way of it, should be able 
to take a waste of ten gallons the head daily from a family 
of six persons or even eight. Set a syphon on the house- 
pipe side a little way below the top. The top should be 
bricked over arching, then covered with a foot of earth, 
and well turfed. At cleaning-time roll back the turf, 
make a good big opening over the inner compartment, 
and throw into it a bushel of quicklime. The steam from 
the slacking lime will bring up the foul air, and make the 
work of cleaning safe. It will be, further, much less 
offensive if, after the lime, a bushel of fresh charcoal, 
broken small, is also thrown in. 

Cesspools in heavy, holding clay soil will be ever so 
much better for a ventilating pipe. It should run from 
the crown of the arch, but may be a little underground 




CESSPOOL, WITH VENTILATING PIPE 


GARBAGE-CAN CREMATORY 









































































Twelve] plumbing anti ^>amtat(on 


247 


until it comes to a tree, or tall post, up which it should be 
carried to a height which will insure against contaminat¬ 
ing the air about the house. Such a pipe is almost a 
necessity where seepage is slow, as the cesspool liquid 
remaining stagnant is apt to give off gases in quantity, 
and thus there may be explosions. In all cases where 
cesspools must be constructed in heavy soils, it is worth 
a considerable outlay to provide a drain. If the liquids 
can be led away to a safe distance, and the ventilating pipe 
established, cleaning will not be needed oftener than once 
a year, or, where the amount of waste is small, once in 
two years. 

Privies and earth-closets can be kept reasonably inof¬ 
fensive by throwing in a shovelful of quicklime and an¬ 
other of dry earth whenever they are used. Vaults of 
either need to be cleaned at least fortnightly. A light 
iron-hooped barrel sawed in half, and each half furnished 
with handles, makes excellent receptacles for the filth and 
dry earth. Two of these half-barrels, set in a shallow, 
well-walled vault, can be moved, emptied, and replaced 
easily and quickly. Work expeditiously, and bury their 
contents in clean earth wherever it is possible, so Nature's 
fine alchemy may make clean what is unclean. 

Do not throw liquids, such as slops, dish-water, and 
soap-suds, upon the ground close about a dwelling. Pro¬ 
vide a drain to take them away. The cost of it need be 
only a day’s work and some lengths of tarred boards. 
Nail the boards together V-shape, and lay them point up 
at the bottom of a trench a foot wide, two feet deep, and 
sloping toward some sort of outlet. The sharper the 
slope the better, unless it is so steep earth will not stay 
in it. Lay stones upon the boards to hold them firm, and 
break the joints with shorter boards. Pack earth firmly 
over them. A drain so made will last for years, and take 
off a surprising amount of slops. At the drain-mouth set 
a length of six or even eight inch tile, slanting a little way 




248 


Household Economy [Chapter 


from the drain-course. Over this tile fix a tin or wooden 
hopper, with wire-net or perforated tin in the bottom. 
This to strain the slops, and save the ditch from clogging. 
Once a week scald out the wooden hopper, though, as it 
is likely to stand fair to the sun, it will hardly prove 
dangerous no matter how dirty. 

The kitchen may have a sink-pipe emptying directly 
into such a drain. But the end of the pipe should be at 
least a foot from the hopper, so it may not lead bad air 
back into the kitchen. If the drain is fitted with six-inch 
tile, it may take away storm-water from the leads, with 
advantage to itself and the premises. It may, further, 
carry off wash-water, which, with only the boards, is apt 
to prove too much for it. 


Waring’s Bacterial System of Country- 

House Drainage 

The late G. E. Waring, who may be called the father 
of open plumbing, hated cesspools and all their works. 
To take their place and do their work, he devised a drain¬ 
age system which, given reasonable care, is as sanitary 
as it is simple. To understand its workings, it is neces¬ 
sary to know some things regarding sewage and the bac¬ 
teria bred in it. Ordinary household sewage, including 
bath and wash water, contains in the thousand parts— 
998 of water, 1 of mineral salts, and 1 of refuse organic 
matter. It is this organic refuse which alone is fouling. 
If it can be decomposed before putrefaction, it is no longer 
dangerous. 

To secure this decomposition it is only necessary that 
the sewage be exposed in thin films to the action of light 
and air. The air, the earth, the sewage itself, abound in 
bacteria, which attack the waste matter, tear it apart and 
oxidise it, the carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen of the 



249 


Twelve] ^tumfung anti limitation 


waste combining with oxygen from the air to form car¬ 
bonic-acid gas, water, and nitrous and nitric acid. The 
more perfect this oxidation, the purer the sewage-water 
becomes. It has been demonstrated over and over, by 
various filtration plants, that very foul sewage could thus 
be brought back to the condition of distilled water. 

By the Waring system, all the household waste is led 
by pipes to a tank, either wholly or partly sunken, and 
open at the top. The tank must be either of brick, well 
set in cement, or glazed and tightly cemented, or of mar¬ 
ble slabs. The smoother and more impervious, the better. 
It is two feet deep and twenty inches broad. The length 
is any multiple of two feet—four, six, eight, ten, or twelve 
—according to the flow it must receive. Four inches be¬ 
low the top, on the inside, there is an inch-wide shoulder 
in the side walls. These shoulders are to support wire 
screens, made in two-foot sections, strongly framed and 
easily removable. At the inlet end of the tank there is a 
recess fifteen inches square. In this a movable cage of 
wire-netting fits snugly. The cage is closed upon three 
sides with a ten-inch opening upon the fourth. The inlet 
runs into this opening, thus enabling the cage to strain 
out paper and all clogging solids. The cages are sup¬ 
plied in duplicate, so as to be removable for cleaning and 
airing. Their contents after turning out should be im¬ 
mediately dug into the earth, or covered with fresh earth 
if digging is impracticable. 

The tank slopes a little toward the outlet end, which is 
fitted with an automatic siphon, discharging every twelve 
hours or twenty-four, according as it is proportioned to 
the inflow. From the syphon the waste water goes 
through drains, either surface or sub-surface, and leaches 
slowly into the soil. The drains must be so arranged 
that the flow reaches them in succession. Usually there 
are three sets, used consecutively. This consecutive use 
is the pith of the whole matter. It permits the drains and 




250 


Household Economy [Chapter 


the soil about them to dry out, giving the beneficent bac¬ 
teria time to do their work. The drains must be so ar¬ 
ranged that the flow is very gradual. It is, further, im¬ 
perative to provide a light, well-aired surface-soil round 
about them. The ground they run over is best deeply 
underdrained. If it is warm, sandy, and very thirsty, 
underdraining may not be necessary, but with heavy loam 
or holding clay, it is indispensable. Surface drains may 
be simply gutters of finely broken stones or clean peb¬ 
bles running between turfed banks, and returning one on 
the other if limited space or soil configuration demands. 
They must have barely enough slope to set up and main¬ 
tain a sluggish current. This is also true of the tile 
drains; if the slope is too sharp, there may be unpleasant 
springs and fountains of sewage toward the bottom. Tile 
should be laid just below the grass-roots, either in earthen¬ 
ware gutters or upon beds of finely broken stone. All 
this, however, the sanitary engineer may well look out 
for. In use the tank should be uncovered at need—in hot 
weather, daily, the cage removed and cleaned, the walls 
swept down, and the mouth of the discharging siphon 
especially looked to. The tank’s location will, of course, 
be determined by the size and configuration of the 
grounds. It may be screened by planting a shrubby ever¬ 
green ring about it. The ring should, however, not be 
so close as to impede sunlight and the circulation of air. 
Since sewage putrefies but slightly under twenty-four 
hours, and is seldom offensive before putrefaction, there 
is not much reason to fear ill odours unless the tank is 
very greatly neglected. 

# In light, well-aired soil it is estimated that one foot of 
pipage in each of the three alternating lines is sufficient 
for each gallon of tank-capacity. With a cold clay loam, 
three feet of pipe will be required to take up the same 
amount of flowage. The gates for securing alternate 
flowage must be strictly looked after. Where this is done, 




Twelve] ^lumfctng anti ^>anttatton 


2 Si 


the system is among the best yet devised to counteract the 
defilement of habitation. 

Rubbish and Garbage 

Fortunes have been lost and found in dust-heaps. 
Lives also are lost through them every year, in spite of 
modern progress. Indeed, it is not too much to say that 
every carelessly managed ash-heap or garbage-pile is a 
potential poisoner. City folk have little concern of this 
sort; the city itself takes away garbage daily. The lesson 
of such taking away is one the whole people may well 
lay to heart. If, through storm or stress of weather, 
collection is clogged and garbage accumulates, there is an 
instant and perceptible rise in the cases of “ filth disease,” 
and a corresponding increase in the death-rate. 

Wherefore it is well to impress this golden rule for 
dust-heaps. Dust, be it understood, is a generic rather 
than a specific term, and, as here used, applies to what¬ 
ever is thrown away. Wherever it is possible, waste 
should be turned to ashes. Things which cannot be 
burned need to be dried, and kept dry. Concretely ap¬ 
plied, this means burn paper, especially greasy paper, or 
dirty card-board of every sort, rags, straw, excelsior, hair, 
lint, carpet-sweepings, feathers, bones, and old leather. 
For the most part the burning can be done in a stove, or 
grate, or range, especially if one is wise enough to burn 
up things right along, thus preventing cluttering. But 
where the stove or range is out of the question—as when 
gas or oil is the fuel—it pays to make things burn them¬ 
selves in a crematory that any tinsmith can make at a 
very low cost. 

The foundation of it is a tall galvanised-iron garbage- 
can. Have half-a-dozen inch-holes cut in the bottom of 
it well toward the edge, then inside the ring of holes have 
a length of perforated iron pipe riveted on. It should 




252 


Household Economy [Chapter 


stand several feet higher than the cover, and be perforated 
from the bottom upward, nearly to where the cover 
touches it. The can-cover must be cut in two, and each 
half so hollowed as to fit around the pipe. It may be 
hinged at one end, and fastened with a hook-clamp at the 
other. In use set the can in a vacant space outdoors, 
supporting the bottom on bricks, and piling the brick high 
enough to get the hand well underneath. Put whatever 
is to be burned inside, between the pipe and the can, close 
the cover, then touch a match to it through one of the 
holes in the bottom. Such things as leather and bones 
need to be mixed through lighter stuff, which in burning 
will set them well afire. If there is sufficient garden 
space, it is better to bury the leather and bones two feet 
down, where the roots of a choice plant can reach them. 
But with only a little plot, maybe in grass, the ashes from 
the can, which are among the very best fertilisers, will 
be handier and more valuable. 

Fruit-skins and pits, potato-skins, pea-hulls, beet-tops, 
the refuse of salads, indeed, every sort of vegetable waste, 
ought to be spread out thin and dried through and 
through before going in the dust-heap. Where a horse, 
or cow, or goat, or even a pig, is kept, such things will 
give little trouble. A thrifty pig, indeed, may be made a 
sort of savings bank for all sorts and conditions of waste 
edibles. It is the same almost with fowls, which will eat 
up almost every sort of table-refuse clean with only a 
little care in preparing it for them. Still, when all is 
subtracted, much remains that perforce goes to the heap. 
But never by any chance let a dust-heap get either wet 
or greasy. 

Grease of any sort had better be turned into soft soap. 
(See Chapter on Insecticides.) Water is the life of bac¬ 
terial action. Harmful or harmless, those mysterious 
creatures depend upon moisture for multiplication. Keep 
some sort of shelter for the dust-heap. Do not build it 




253 


Twelve] ^plumbing anti §s>anttatton 


upon the ground. A big box with a light, tight, movable 
gable-roof, and a narrow door toward the bottom, is a 
good refuse-holder. So is a light barrel, with a batten 
cover, and swung between two posts so it can be easily 
emptied. If skins and stalks are burned after drying, 
the box or barrel will need emptying about every six 
weeks. If the stalks go in in bulk, it should be emptied 
fortnightly. Weekly it should have a quart of quick¬ 
lime and a handful of broken charcoal thrown into it. 
Thus treated it may stand behind a light trellis at the very 
edge of a flower-bed, or border, and never in any way 
betray its presence. 

Cabbage-leaves, potato-parings, and their ilk, massed 
together in the natural state and left to decay, will breed 
pestilence nearly as quickly as animal waste. If such 
massing is unavoidable, the heap should be mixed with 
quicklime and charcoal, and sprinkled daily with cop¬ 
peras in powder. If the stench is overpowering, drench 
the whole heap with a strong chloride of lime solution, 
or dissolved permanganate of potash. Covering decay¬ 
ing stuff with clean earth is always advisable. The 
trouble is that in so many cases there is no clean earth 
at hand. 

Fine ashes help to keep the dust-heap wholesome. 
Cinders had better be sifted out, and saved to help in 
draining paths. A layer of cinders six inches deep, be¬ 
neath a three-inch coat of either shells or gravel, will help 
to keep a path free of grass and dampness. But, while 
the cinder-gathering goes on, do not keep them in an 
unsightly pile plain to view. Boxes and barrels are to 
be had almost anywhere for the asking, and use of them 
makes for so much that is desirable in a home. 




Chapter THIRTEEN 

Watcr ^upplp 

N O other single factor in household arrange¬ 
ments is so vital to health and comfort as 
the water-supply. Good water is assuredly 
among the best gifts of nature, bad water 
the source and breeder of uncounted ills. 
Paradoxical as it sounds, the purest water is by no means 
always the best. Limestone water, for example, builds 
up the bones in growing animals, children not excepted; 
further, it is to the carbonic acid held in solution that 
spring water, indeed, any fresh and living water, owes 
much of its charm. Distilled water is notoriously flat, 
and unpalatable. So is boiled water, yet boiling renders 
water which is not above suspicion reasonably safe. Boil¬ 
ing drives off the carbonic acid quite as effectually as it 
kills deleterious germs. 

Hard Water and Soft Water 

Water is formed of oxygen and hydrogen, chemically 
combined, yet has the curious property of taking to itself 
more oxygen mixed with nitrogen in the form of air. 
This in addition to the carbonic acid, of which water com¬ 
monly absorbs about its own volume. All chemically 
pure water is soft. Rain-water is not quite chemically 
pure, in that it absorbs traces of ammonia in falling 
through the air. Distilled water received in sterilised 
vessels is the only strictly pure water. But the constant 

254 


2 55 


C |)t i£ater=§5>upplp 


drinking of distilled water would be neither wholesome 
nor pleasant. 

Water has a strong solvent power, somewhat propor¬ 
tioned, however, to its purity and the amount of carbonic 
acid it carries. For practical purposes, rain-water, the 
water from mud-bottomed ponds, marshes, and streams 
running through sands neither salt nor alkaline, may be 
accepted as soft. What is known in country parlance as 
“ freestone water/’ though less hard than limestone wa¬ 
ter, is not soft, carrying as it does a sensible percentage 
of mineral matter derived from granitic rocks and soils. 
This mineral taint is, however, so inert it rarely gives 
trouble. It is the water well charged with carbonic acid, 
and flowing over or through either limestone, chalk, or 
gypsum formations, which dissolves enough of active 
mineral salts to need softening treatment. 

Pure limestone water is eminently wholesome for 
drinking. But in the laundry it is another proposition. 
The lime in the water combines with the soap, making 
hard, curdy flakes all over the surface of it. Until the 
lime has been neutralised, indeed, it is impossible to make 
good suds; and, even then, the curdy deposit makes 
trouble upon the wash and the tubs. Wherefore, with 
any water which sets up this curdiness, it is the part of 
wisdom to soften each tubful as soon as drawn with either 
a cupful of lye, made from wood-ashes and strained, or 
two tablespoonfuls of a strong pearl-ash solution, or a 
pint of hot soda-water, strong enough to slip between the 
fingers. Of course either soda or pearl-ash can be used 
in the lump, but the action is not so quick, nor anything 
like so even and so effectual. 

Boiling also throws down the lime; hence the scurvy, 
whitish deposits at the bottom of tea-kettles and boilers. 
Clear lime-water in proportion of one gallon to ten softens 
very hard water—possibly on homoeopathic principles. 
It is the best of re-agents for drinking-water and for that 




256 Household Economy [Chapter 


which must be used in cooking, as well as for washing 
delicately coloured fabrics. 

Water, either soft or hard, dissolves lead; in small 
measure, to be sure, but enough to count in the long run. 
Hence the importance of letting water run some little 
time from the pipes before using it either for drinking 
or cooking. Where water from the pipes is turbid, or 
even slightly muddy, it is a good plan to strain it by tying 
a small bag of coarse loosely woven flannel, very strongly 
made, over the mouth of the faucet, and changing the 
bag daily. In washing this does much to keep the clothes 
white through seasons of bad water. Wherever there is 
a city or village water-supply, such periods may be 
counted on some time in the year. 

Springs, Wells, and Cisterns 

With a municipal water-supply the most one can do is 
to modify or minimise evils. But in more than half the 
homes of these United States the water-supply is abso¬ 
lutely subject to control. More’s the pity, one is tempted 
to say, recalling many prevalent practices. Very nice 
people, and wise upon many points, are too often shock¬ 
ingly careless of possible taints. Apparently they think 
the earth is a great all-potent filter—whenever water goes 
through it, it leaves all traces of impurity behind. Noth¬ 
ing could well be more mistaken. The earth is a filter. 
Indeed, it is safe to say that throughout the unreckonable 
ages every drop of water on the planet has been fouled 
and made clean many times over. But the making clean 
is a tedious process—much too tedious to be trusted, with 
life and health in the balance. It cannot be said too often 
nor too strongly that there is no alchemy in earth or 
gravel potent to remove the taint of decaying organic 
matter, either animal or vegetable. 

No well sunk in a populous space yields water above 





257 


Thirteen] |$at0t-§3>Uppl£ 


suspicion. That is, excepting always artesian wells, or 
driven ones that go down several hundred feet, and are 
securely piped against the infiltration of surface-water. 
Something also depends upon the soil. Sandy earth per¬ 
mits the surface taints to go down very much deeper than 
clay. A stiff, holding clay, indeed, will give water less 
contaminated sixty feet down than will a sandy loam at 
the depth of a hundred. Neither clay nor sand extends 
anything like so far below the surface; but all the water 
in water-veins at some time or other falls upon the surface 
in the form of rain or snow, and seeps gradually down 
through the upper soil. Sandy soils are so much opener, 
the passage through them is more rapid; besides, the sand 
particles do not catch and hold ammonia and its com¬ 
pounds as do the particles of clay. 

Water from what is known as a seep-well—that is to 
say, water gathered from the inflow of many tiny trickles 
—is almost sure to be polluted, unless the surface about 
it is fairly virgin. If much surface-seepage is encoun¬ 
tered in well-digging, the shaft should be abandoned, and 
a new location chosen. The perfect well is one going 
down through clean firm soil to a depth of at least forty 
feet, and there piercing a water-vein bold enough to fill 
the well-bottom to a depth of ten feet, but seldom rising 
above that. If the vein flows just upon top of a rock- 
stratum which can be blasted to provide a deep, clean 
rock-cup, then the location is ideal. 

But have a care whence such a vein flows. If there is 
a graveyard, even a small one, lying higher than the well- 
seat anywhere in the vein’s water-shed, the well cannot 
be too quickly filled in and abandoned. Graveyards are 
among the deadliest of all well-poisoners—a fact that is 
in itself a very sufficient argument for cremation. If 
there are stables, or slaughter-houses, or greenhouses, or 
even highly manured market-gardens, over the vein’s 
gathering territory, the water will very likely be bad. 




258 Household Economy [chapter 


Leakage from sewers, cesspools, surface wash from privy 
vaults, or drains carrying away household slops, are all 
things to be well looked after. But all such things may 
be disregarded if a well is sunk through a stratum of 
sound rock to reach a water-bearing formation lying 
below. 

Any sort of well should have a rock or brick wall laid 
in cement, and cemented all over the inner surface. A 
cast-iron pump, cement-bedded, with no cranny nor 
crevice for creeping intruders, will insure the water’s 
keeping pure all the year round. It will further insure 
it against pollution from bad air—the choke-damp, which, 
heavier than the upper air, sinks into low places, and stays 
there until violently expelled. 

In alluvial regions, or those thickly populated, cisterns 
are far and away better than wells. They may be under 
or above ground, preferably under, should be of suitable 
dimension, and bricked up from the lowermost cup to the 
arch. The arch should come a foot below the surface of 
the earth, and have a shaft, a foot and a half high, run¬ 
ning up to receive the pump fixtures. All the inner sur¬ 
face of the brick-work, and the outer one as far as ex¬ 
posed, should be cemented, using the very best quality 
of hydraulic cement, which hardens under water. Have 
the pump set very tight in the top of the shaft, cover the 
brick arch with earth, and sod the space over it compactly. 
Provide a tin or earthen trough open at one end to catch 
waste water under the pump-spout and take it safe away. 

The inflow-pipe may be short or long according to loca¬ 
tion. Where choice is possible, it is well to set the cistern 
several yards away from the nearest house-wall. The 
inflow-pipe should run to it below the surface-level, three 
feet down, if possible. It should be of vitrified brick laid 
in cement, and cemented smooth inside and out. Where 
the water comes into it, there should be a brick receiver, 
either square or round, cemented within and without, and 



Thirteen] Cl)e ^ater^upplp 


2 59 


rising two feet above-ground. This must be big enough 
to hold a sufficient filter. The bottom of it must be level 
with the inflow-pipe, which should fall a little in its course 
to the cistern. Set a coarse grating across the mouth of 
the inflow-pipe, or, better, a double section of hollow 
brick. 

For the filter, first cover the bottom of the water-cup 
with clean rolled pebbles, using none less than two inches 
through. The layer ought to be six inches deep. Upon 
top of it put a layer of hard-wood charcoal, broken to 
egg-size, and screened free of dust. This should be at 
least three inches deep, with three inches of small pebbles 
over the top. Then, by way of finish, put over the peb¬ 
bles big lumps of charcoal mixed with massive rolled 
flints—so massive the plunging roof-water will not be 
able to displace them. A filter so made will be good for 
five years, after which it should be overhauled, the stones 
washed clean, and the charcoal renewed. 

With very big cisterns and a tremendous inflow, it is 
easier to use the wall-filter. This is of porous brick, laid 
unmortared, so as to divide the cistern about equally from 
top to bottom. Then the cistern-shape should be a long 
ellipse rather than round. The inflow-pipe comes in one 
side the filter-wall, and the pump is set upon the other. 
Where much water is needed, so much that all rain-water 
must be stored for use, the wall-filter is almost imperative. 

No matter where the inflow-pipe mouth may be located, 
there must be a movable pipe to connect it with the leads. 
Stout tin well soldered, in elbow shape, with rings for 
easy handling and an inverted hopper-mouth, is the best. 
It is equally important to have a waste-water way close 
beside the filter, through which surplus or undesirable 
storm-water may run off. Eternal vigilance is the price 
of the best cistern-water, which is far and away the best 
of all water for either drinking, bathing, cooking, or 
laundry work. Even a small roof-surface supplies 



26 o 


Household Economy [Chapter 


enough water of the right sort for a fair-sized cistern if 
it is properly husbanded. 

Snow-water from the roof of a country-house is rarely 
objectionable, unless the snow has lain so long it has 
become smoke-tainted. In towns or suburban places keep 
out snow-water, and let no rain-water in, until the roof 
has been well washed off. If possible, catch no rain be¬ 
fore November, nor after March. It is, further, impor¬ 
tant to consider the sort of roof. Painted or stained 
shingles will not furnish good water. Painted tin, after 
a rain or two, is perfectly safe. Steamed and sawed 
shingles, unpainted, need to be seasoned and rain-soaked 
a year before saving water from them. Tile roofs, slate 
roofs, and hard-wood shingles unstained, shed rain-water 
very nearly in the same condition it fell. 

With a cistern, beware of house-haunting birds such 
as pigeons, martins, and swallows. Each and several 
they will foul gutters sadly, often trying to build in them, 
and always perching upon roofs to rest and preen. Swal¬ 
lows are least objectionable, pigeons worst of all. A cote 
all their own is no protection against their defilement. 

A last word as to gutters and leaders. The very best 
heavy tin is none too good for them. See that they are 
properly put up, and of sufficient size. See also that, af¬ 
ter severe winter weather, they are still true and in place. 
Wooden gutters should not be used even upon a barn, 
especially if the water of it is to be drunk by milch-cows. 
Whatever taint is in the water will be passed on to the 
milk. Yet such is the perversity of miseducated palates, 
cows, indeed, any animals, accustomed to bad water, will 
refuse to drink good water unless driven to it by thirst. 

Wind-Mills and Force-Pumps 

Almost the whole face of these United States is under¬ 
laid with a flow of pure water, at distances varying from 



Thirteen] Cf)e ^ater#upplp 


261 


three hundred to fifteen hundred feet. Hence, wherever 
there is enough of enterprise combined with a little money, 
the question of a pure water-supply is easily answered. 
The first cost of driven or artesian wells is not great, and, 
once the well is down, there is an inexhaustible supply 
ever after. Nor is that all. American ingenuity and 
enterprise have so cheapened machinery, it is easily pos¬ 
sible for persons of ordinary means to have modern im¬ 
provements in their houses, by the help of a wind-mill and 
a force-pump. 

Circumstances and location govern the cost, but in a 
general way one may estimate it at from three hundred 
to fifteen hundred dollars. The gain in comfort, con¬ 
venience, and sanitary security is enormous—quite 
enough in the course of a single season to warrant the 
outlay. In many of the home industries, such as fancy 
dairying, rose and violet culture, and small-fruit growing, 
wind-mills and water have proved the corner-stone of suc¬ 
cess. If he is a benefactor who makes two blades of 
grass grow where earlier but one was possible, what shall 
be said of a contrivance which makes possible grass-plots 
and flower-beds, not to name bath-rooms, where before 
there were none? 


Spring Water 

Spring water knows no medium; it is either very good 
or very bad. According to authority, the standard for 
water is this: “ Free from colour, taste, or smell; cool, 
soft, bright, well aerated, and wholly free from deposit.” 
But even this must be accepted with a qualification. 
Spring water may show every characteristic named, yet 
be unsafe, if the stream gathers head in a marshy space, 
especially a marsh that receives, in times of high water, 
flood-water contaminated with either sewage or the wash 
of inhabited and highly manured lands. 




262 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Filtration through the various strata takes away smell 
and colour, yet may leave behind subtle poisons. A 
spring coming to light after channelling under cultivated 
fields is commonly something to let alone. Contrariwise, 
one breaking out boldly from beneath a massy bluff, or 
gathering its waters in untrodden wilds, is safe as it is 
refreshing. A landowner should always have respect to 
a water-source, and in clearing fields, or grading, or 
draining, leave it as nearly undisturbed as possible. 

Some Water Tests 

Here are a few simple tests which even the wayfaring 
summer boarder or sojourner may apply, of tentime to 
the saving of health. Put a pint of water in an earthen 
vessel—a flattish one is best—evaporate it quickly, and 
scrape the dish clean of any residue. If the residue is 
white and powdery, it means lime or gypsum, hence the 
water is hard but safe. A whity-green or whity-yellow 
gummy residue is suspicious. Burn it. If it turns black, 
giving out the smell of burnt feathers, the water is con¬ 
taminated with animal refuse, and a likely breeder of 
typhoid. 

Another test is that with permanganate of potash, a 
chemical which, when dissolved, gives to water a beauti¬ 
ful purple colour. Put the water to be tested in a white 
earthen cup, add a teaspoonful of weak sulphuric acid, 
stir with a bit of glass, and pour in the dissolved perman¬ 
ganate—the solution must not be strong—until the water 
in the cup turns a rosy red. Cover with glass, and set 
aside a few minutes. If the colour has faded, then add 
more permanganate. Very much contaminated water 
will bleach out the potash colour twice or even three times. 
Still, it must be remembered that traces of iron, or peaty 
deposits in water, will have the same effect as sewage. 
Where iron or peat taint is likely, test the water further 




263 


Thirteen] ^atCf=^>Upplj> 


in this fashion: Fill a clean glass with it, add a little 
nitric acid, and one-fourth as much lunar caustic in solu¬ 
tion. Shake all well together, then stir with a slip of 
clean glass. If the glass comes out only slightly milky 
or clouded, the water is safe; it has only the normal grain 
of salt to the gallon. But if the milkiness is pronounced, 
thick, white, and curdy, it means too much salt, which in 
turn means sewage contamination. The salt of food is 
commonly or, rather, chiefly eliminated in urine, and thus 
passed back into the water-flow. Water which bleaches 
out the permanganate, and afterward responds to the test 
for salt though only slightly, is apt to be fouled with 
stable refuse, or some other sort of animal waste, rather 
than sewage. 

Purifying Water 

The name of filters is legion. For the most part one 
may like them, each and several, for several virtues, with¬ 
out finding any which combines all. One that is cheap, 
good, and reasonably efficient, withal easily kept clean, is 
made thus. Get first a five-gallon earthen jar, and a 
length of drain-pipe big enough to fit the mouth of the 
jar. Cut some rounds of coarse loosely woven flannel 
three inches bigger than the end of the tile, make an inch- 
hem all round, and run in a stout drawing-tape. Tie this 
tape over the swell at the end of the tile, then set the tile 
over the jar mouth. Now lay inside the tile a cheese¬ 
cloth bag, big enough to cover the whole bottom, and filled 
with charcoal broken to the size of a small pea. Pour 
water in the pipe—in draining through it is well filtered. 
Change the charcoal bag every day. Scald and dry the 
bag out of use, and once a week empty the charcoal into 
a sieve, and pour boiling water well through it. 

Water so filtered may be afterward boiled, and drank 
with safety, no matter what its original condition. Boil¬ 
ing alone drives off many taints, besides killing all manner 





264 


Household Economy [Chapter 


of bacteria. Since it also drives off the life-giving air 
and gases, boiled water ought to be poured at least three 
times from one vessel to another before it is drunk. The 
higher one vessel is held from the other, the better. An¬ 
other way of making boiled water more palatable is to 
acidulate it very slightly with, say, a teaspoonful of lime- 
juice to the gallon, then at the minute of drinking add 
two grains of soda bicarbonate dissolved in a little water. 
This will furnish about the normal amount of carbonic- 
acid gas. 

In times of flood, water of every sort is apt to show 
traces of mud. Draw it, and let it settle before attempt¬ 
ing to purify it. Then, if there is an earthy or leafy 
taste, put in a little alum, say two grains to the gallon of 
clear water, and filter well. The alum will combine with 
the foreign matter which is slightly albuminous, and be 
rendered wholly inert, forming a precipitate the filter will 
remove. Clean, fresh oak-chips are an even better 
astringent than alum. Fill up the drain-pipe filter with 
them, using fresh ones every morning, and pour on water 
as fast as it runs through. 

Water ill-smelling and covered with greenish scum 
may be made safe by this simple expedient. Tie a lump 
of quicklime as big as the fist inside a clean cheese-cloth, 
and lower it in a bucket of the water. In slacking, the 
lime will develop steam enough to run through the water, 
driving off all foul gases. As soon as it ceases to hiss 
and bubble, take out the lime, let the water settle half- 
an-hour, then skim well and pour off carefully, leaving 
at least two inches depth above the sediment. In travel¬ 
ling, especially in roughing it, one often finds water of 
questionable quality. A pinch of either magnesia or 
prepared chalk, well stirred into a glassful, may prove a 
help and safeguard. Let the water settle, and drink only 
two-thirds down. The slight alkaline taste will not be 
disagreeable. If possible to pour the water off the sedi- 




Thirteen] %\)t ^aten#upplp 


265 


ment, and mix it with a very little good brandy or whisky, 
it will be both more palatable and more reassuring. 

If alkali water is encountered, dash it very lightly with 
some vegetable acid—vinegar, lime, or lemon-juice. 

Stills and Strainers 

There is one certain, if troublesome, remedy for the 
worst possible water-supply—the water-still, which can 
be bought for the sum of ten dollars. It is made both 
in copper and aluminum, and can be used upon either a 
range, a gas-stove, or oil-stove, or set upon a rude camp 
furnace of stones and clay. All it requires, indeed, is a 
flat surface sufficiently heated to boil water. The still 
is in three parts, and takes up hardly more room than 
an ordinary vegetable steamer. First, there is a broad 
flat vessel for the boiling water, with a condenser, also 
broad and flat, fitting the top of it. Above the condenser 
is the feed-water, which keeps the condenser cool, and, as 
the lower chamber is emptied, passes down automatically 
to supply the boiler. There is a pipe with a stop-cock 
outside the condenser, so water can be drawn from it 
without interrupting the distilling. All the care needed 
for such a still is to keep the feed-tank full, see that the 
heat is steady, and now and then to empty the condenser. 

Brackish water, marsh water, or that from contam¬ 
inated springs and wells, is made perfectly wholesome by 
distillation. The boiler should never be allowed to dry 
out. If the still is in constant use, empty the boiler at 
least twice a day. Three times is better. And once a 
day, preferably in the morning, free the boiler rim and 
bottom of all adherent sediment. If it is salt sediment 
it can be scraped off; if lime or any sort of mineral is 
deposited, remove it by rubbing the boiler with a little 
strong vinegar. Rinse very well before setting the still 
to work. A clean oyster or clam shell laid in the bot- 




266 


Household Economy [Chapter 


tom of the boiler will catch and hold a large part of 
mineral deposits. 

Strain all water before it goes in the feed-tank. A 
cheap and handy strainer is made thus: Take a round 
of stout galvanised wire a little bigger than a bucket-top, 
and sew doubled mosquito-net strongly over the wire. 
In use lay the net circle over the bucket, and either pump 
or pour the water through it. Have several such strain¬ 
ers, so one may be always drying; and, once a week, drop 
them all in boiling water for five minutes, shake them 
vigorously about, drain, and dry well. 

Distilled water is always flat. It can be made more 
palatable and more wholesome by the use of lime-juice 
and bi-carbonate of soda. Indeed, the juice of a fresh 
lime alone in a glass of water first thing upon rising is 
among the best preventives of malaria and stomach dis¬ 
orders, especially those due to changes of water. Sum¬ 
mer travellers can do no better for themselves than to 
take along supplies of lime-juice and pure grape brandy. 
A dash of either in the drinking-water is a safeguard not 
to be despised. 

People of gouty tendencies, whose water-supply is 
strongly calcareous, will find it well worth while to distil 
all they drink. Gouty pains come from the deposit of 
calcareous matter around joints and along natural pass¬ 
ages. Distilled water acts by prevention. It is also 
efficacious against the calcareous deposit in veins and 
arteries, which is among the most unmistakable signs of 
advancing years. 


As to Water-Pipes 

Remember always that very hot water eats and wears 
out pipes much faster than water of moderate heat. 
Hence watch the boiler. If it begins to sing, set the 
hot-water faucet running, and keep it running until the 




Thirteen] %\)e ^ater^upplp ^ 


boiler feels cool to the back of the hand. But it should 
not be allowed to get singing-hot. Feel the boiler after 
breakfast, and again after dinner; if it burns the back of 
the hand, let off at least half the water in it. 

It is quite as important to keep the boiler and hot- 
water pipes clean. No matter what the source of water- 
supply, there will be more or less sediment in the boiler. 
Once a month, at least, turn off the water—there is a 
special tap for the purpose—then open the faucet, and 
let all the water possible run off. When it ceases run¬ 
ning, set a tub underneath the boiler, and open the tap 
at the bottom. When all sediment has run out, turn on 
the water again, and let the inside of the boiler have a 
good rinsing. Turn off the water again, close the lower 
tap, and again turn it on. There must be no range fire 
while all this goes on. Fire without a free circulation 
through the water-back would mean a dangerous ex¬ 
plosion. 

In very cold weather, pipes in cool apartments may be 
saved from freezing and bursting by leaving the taps 
running a little. The running must not be at full head, 
nor so faint as to freeze and clog the vent. A gentle, 
steady trickle is best. With spring faucets, wire back 
the handles. If a pipe freezes, do not try to thaw it out 
violently. A good way is to wrap the frozen pipe thickly 
with woollen cloths, and lay over them cloths wrung out 
of boiling water. Cover the hot cloths with dry ones, 
and as they cool renew them; or a warm flat-iron can be 
held over the cloths. This is only worth while where 
there is a short exposed length frozen. Heat, as of flame 
or coals, applied to a pipe considerably frozen may gen¬ 
erate steam enough in one place to cause an explosion 
when it runs against the part still frozen. 

Do not try to protect outdoor water-pipes either with 
ash-banks or by covering them with manure. Both sub¬ 
stances eat and honeycomb the pipe, to say nothing of 




268 


Household Economy 


the danger of contamination. Outside supply-pipes 
should run through brick conduits, well furred inside 
with clear half-inch pine stuff. Have openings in the 
conduits for ventilation in mild weather; in freezes see 
to it that the openings are tightly closed. 



Chapter FOURTEEN 

HtgJjttng anti Heating 

I N the matter of light and heat, avoid extremes. 
But as between too little and too much of either, 
choose always too much. Light can be tempered, 
heat modified. Cold and darkness are negative 
qualities, but ill and costly to banish. 

Lights and Lighting 

Almost half the home-makers nowadays can rely upon 
lights from the outside. Electricity, municipal gas¬ 
works, private gas-works, and water-gas household 
plants, so abound, the lamp and the candle hide their 
diminished heads. As to either gas or electric light, all 
that can be said is in regard to location and economy. 
Side lights of either are much better than staring chan¬ 
deliers, unless the room to be lighted is much bigger than 
the average American house affords. Good gas, un¬ 
varyingly of twenty-four candle-power to a standard 
four-foot burner, is a most economical light wherever 
it can be bought for a dollar the thousand feet. Above 
that price it is cheaper than electricity, light for light, 
but relatively dearer, in that an electric light of standard 
brilliance gives almost half as much again of luminosity 
as the same size gas-flame. 

“ Matches are cheaper than gas ” This should be 
printed in big letters, and stuck up in every kitchen and 
bath-room. Freely translated it means that lights should 

269 


Household Economy [Chapter 


370 


be turned out the very minute they are no longer needed. 
The same is true of gas-stove burners, whether for cook¬ 
ing or ironing. Upon the same principle never light a 
jet until it is needed. True, it may consume but a trifle 
in excess of the normal amount, but it is the many mickles 
which in the end make up a disagreeable muckle. 

Do not read by a light directly overhead, especially one 
that flickers. Buy a drop-light whatever else is done 
without, and, if possible, provide it with some one of 
the patent mantles, which give a flame so much whiter 
and steadier than the common burners. Shade the flame 
so the light shall fall upon the book, or work, or what¬ 
ever is in hand, but miss the eyes. Let the light come 
over the left arm or shoulder. Do not burn it at full 
head. Experiment until the proper pitch is found. Al¬ 
ways turn off a drop-light by the cock which supplies the 
flexible tube of it. Otherwise the pressure of gas in the 
rubber will most likely cause a leak. Once a fortnight, 
at least, take off the drop-light tube, and hang it out to 
air. Thus it will breed no gas odours to be mistaken for 
gas leaks. In case of a leak, either known or suspected, 
do not strike a match nor carry a light into a closed room 
to look for it. As soon as there is a perceptible smell 
of gas, open doors and windows wide. Illuminating gas 
mixed equally with air is among the most explosive com¬ 
pounds known. Find out where the stop-cock stands, 
so that in case of fire or accident the gas-supply may be 
quickly shut off. 

A gas-jet which burns with a whistling noise is giving 
out more gas than it burns. Turn it down until the 
whistling stops. See that the tips and burners are 
cleaned and renewed at need. See also that every key 
stands square, and be especially sure that none of them 
turns clear around. At least one-half the fatal gas acci¬ 
dents are traceable to keys which either turn on the gas 
thus in the act of turning off, or to those which work so 




Fourteen] Htgijtmg anti Heating 


loosely they can be dragged open by accidental contact 
with a hand or sleeve. Flat-top burners are generally 
better than round-topped ones, as they prevent the flame 
from spreading to break the globe. Globes of clear glass, 
or softly tinted, are best for the eyes. It goes without 
saying they must be kept clear and clean. Dust them 
out every week, and wash them every month, taking care 
to wipe them very clean, and thoroughly dry. Take care 
in handling gas fixtures not to lean upon them nor swing 
against them. Wash them clean now and then, but do 
not undertake polishing them. 

Remember a soft clear radiance does not hurt or tire 
the eyes one-half so much as a white steely flare. There¬ 
fore, soften the most part of electric lights with bags of 
thin softly tinted silks drawn deftly about the bulbs. Try 
colour after colour, and use that which most rests the 
eyes. Beware of working too close to an electric bulb. 
In some cases it is said the light develops an X-ray prop¬ 
erty, and takes off the hair. Electric lights are on many 
counts especially desirable in closets, store-rooms, and 
cellars. Wherever possible such light should be ar¬ 
ranged to turn off and on by the closing and opening of 
the door. 



All said and done, neither gas nor electricity can quite 
come up to perfect lamp-light. For perfect lamp-light, 
the first requisite is good lamps; those with central-draft 
burners are far and away the best. The student’s lamp 
with the Rochester burner is as near perfect as anything 
likely to be made in lamp shape. The price of such a 
lamp runs all the way from two-and-a-half to twenty 
dollars. The difference is one of finish and ornamenta¬ 
tion. Choose a lamp with a broadish solid base rather 
than one top-heavy, and given to oversetting. Look also 
at the size of the burner; unless it is big enough to hold 




272 


Household Economy [Chapter 


without packing a good-sized wick, the lamp will give 
a poor light. The oil reservoir had better have no other 
opening than that which admits the wick. Those with 
a special cap for pouring in oil are convenient, and, in 
careful hands, safe. But the mass of folk are in danger 
of being tempted by them to fill up a lamp already lighted, 
or else to leave wick and burner for so long undisturbed, 
both become clogged and gummy. 

Do not let a lamp stand with a little oil in the bottom. 
Do not even light one that has stood partly empty for a 
week. The best oil vapourises under some conditions, 
and the vapour is highly explosive. Every burner ought 
to be supplied with an extinguisher, but where the ex¬ 
tinguisher is lacking, do not blow down a chimney to 
put out a lamp-flame. Especially not if the lamp has 
been burned for several hours. Ninety-nine times in the 
hundred the lamp may be blown out safely, yet at the 
hundredth the flame may come in contact with gas, and 
do no end of damage. 

Turn down a lamp-flame one-half before moving it 
from one room to another. But do not leave it low 
enough to smoke or smell. It will do both if left with 
flame showing dim. If the light must be moderated, 
either take the lamp outside or shade the flame, half¬ 
shrouding it, rather than turning it too low. 

The vital thing about a student’s lamp is to set and 
keep it level. If the oil-tank is for even a minute a little 
higher than the burner, the burner will be overflowed, 
with disastrous results. In filling such a lamp, be sure 
not to leave air-bubbles upon top of the oil. Such bub¬ 
bles have a knack of choking up the narrow supply-pipe, 
and making the light dim and yellow. 

Next to good lamps comes good oil, properly kept. 
The best oil is as white and clear as spring water, and 
will evaporate after a while, leaving no stain. 

Oil keeps best in glass, at a temperature between fifty 



2 73 


Fourteen] anli Heattng 

and sixty degrees. Tin-cans are light, but in steady use 
given to springing a-leak at the most inconvenient sea¬ 
sons. There is a glass oil-can in an open-work tin-holder, 
with bail and handle, and coming in various sizes, that 
answers admirably in careful hands, or where it has only 
to go to the corner grocery for filling. Folk who must 
fetch home their oil-supply in a farm-wagon, and pre¬ 
sumably over rough roads, will find nothing else quite 
so good for holding it as a five-gallon demijohn, with its 
wicker-work still staunch. The demijohn is of manage¬ 
able size, does not overset nor break easily, and never, 
never leaks. With reasonable care it will last a lifetime, 
and still be a heritable asset. 

Get the very best wicks, soft, of loose, rather coarse 
mesh, and big enough to fill the burners without any 
crowding or packing. A wick too small admits air into 
the oil-tank, thus setting up vaporisation. Further, it 
leaves a space for the passage of flame downward if a 
lamp is improperly blown out. The proper way, be it 
said, is across the flame, not from over-head. Buy, in 
bunches, wicks of sizes to fit every lamp in the house. Put 
all the bunches in a porcelain kettle, cover them with 
strong vinegar, bring the vinegar to a boil, and set where 
the kettle will keep warm for three hours. Drain out 
the wick-bunches, dry thoroughly, and keep away from 
dust. Wicks thus soaked and kept clean, both before 
and after going in the burner, almost never smoke. In 
use trim the wicks once a week, but always very lightly 
and evenly, taking off the snuff—the burned part—but 
never any charred wick. Some excellent housekeepers, 
indeed, never put scissors upon a wick. Instead they 
turn the wicks up an inch, then, with a coarse cloth held 
over thumb and forefinger, rub and pinch off the snuff. 
Whether cut or pinched, the main thing is to leave the 
wicks without tag-ends or jagged places. Tag-ends and 
jags mean always smoked and broken chimneys. 





274 


Household Economy [Chapter 


There are chimneys and chimneys—all breakable. 
Some are supremely so in the hands of the average maid¬ 
servant Luckily they are also cheap; especially when 
bought by the dozen or the gross. If all the lamps of 
the household take chimneys of the same size, the gross is 
possible, and a sensible economy. After buying thus in 
quantity, put some shavings in the bottom of a wash- 
boiler, pack the chimneys snugly down in it, strew a 
handful of salt over them, then almost fill the boiler with 
cold water, and set it where it will come very slowly 
to a boil. Let it simmer for two hours, then take from 
the fire and cover so thickly it will be at least three hours 
in cooling. When it is cold, wash the chimneys in clear 
hot water with a suspicion of soda in it; rinse, also in 
hot water, wipe dry, and store on the highest shelf in 
the closet. There the warmest air in the kitchen will 
still further toughen them. Nine chimneys in ten break 
through unequal heating. Boiling this way, and keeping 
in a warm place afterward, seems to effect some molec¬ 
ular change which makes the glass much less liable to 
break. 

Boil all the movable metal parts of lamp-burners once 
a month for ten minutes in strong soda-water, rinse well 
with boiling water, and either dry in the sun or on top 
of a hot stove. If the burners are clogged and gummy, 
scour them lightly before putting on to boil. A clean 
burner is nearly as essential to good light as a clean 
chimney. Wash the chimney also in hot soda-water, 
rinse well, wipe dry, and polish with crumpled newspaper. 

For lamp-filling one needs a small glass funnel and a 
length of glass pipe open at both ends. Set the funnel 
in the lamp-mouth, and pour in oil steadily until it comes 
in view at the bottom of the funnel. If by chance it 
stands so high the wick would make it overflow, plunge 
the glass tube down inside the funnel, clap a finger over 
the open end, and draw it back. The surplus oil will 



Fourteen] Htgirtittg anti Seating 


2 75 


come with it, and may be held there by keeping the finger 
in place until the funnel is shifted. Lamps burn better 
for being full, but should not be too full; invariably then 
the oil oozes all over the top, and either runs down on 
the foot or vaporises, and makes the whole room smell. 

Candles 

More and more fastidious home-makers are coming 
back to candle-light. No other light compares with it 
for delicious softness or artistic effect. In country 
houses particularly, no other light is so desirable, nor so 
easily managed. Candles of good sorts are cheap, and 
likely to be cheaper. The same is true of candlesticks, 
but none of the thousand new sticks are to be named be¬ 
side the tall old brass and silver ones too often stowed 
away in garrets or kicking about cellars. Happy the 
house-mistress who can lay her hands upon even a pair 
of them. If by any chance she has a dozen, then is she 
blessed indeed. 

It is an insult to womanly intelligence to do more than 
name candle-shades. The woman who does not love 
them, and delight in designing and contriving them to 
suit her separate household occasions, is indeed fit for 
treasons, stratagems, and spoils. 

W ater-Gas 

There are at the least twenty different patent contriv¬ 
ances for using water-gas to illuminate homes. The 
name water-gas is due to the fact that the gas is gen¬ 
erated by allowing water to trickle down upon calcium 
carbide. In quantity the gas is so explosive, no muni¬ 
cipality permits its storage in quantity within municipal 
bounds. But where it can be consumed almost as fast 
as it is generated, there is no danger whatever. It burns 




276 


Household Economy [Chapter 


with a brilliant steady white flame, and ranks next to 
electric light as an illuminant, though it gives too little 
heat for cooking. It has the drawback of smelling to 
heaven, a peculiar, pungently acrid smell, like nothing 
else smellable. This is in a way a safeguard, as the smell 
gives warning of over-production, or if the gas-genera¬ 
tion goes on after burning ceases. While all the indi¬ 
vidual gas-plants differ in detail, they have a few com¬ 
mon essential principles. One is the storage of the dry 
carbide—which is quicklime fused with carbon in an 
electric furnace—in separate cylinders, in charges, each 
calculated to supply so many feet of gas. The number 
of charged cylinders varies. Water is admitted to them 
one after another so as to keep up a continuous flow. 
The gas is led over into a general receiver, whence its own 
buoyancy takes it through the system of house-pipes. 
Theoretically the individual gas-plant is a boon. How it 
will turn out in practical demonstration is one of the 
things that remain to be seen. But certainly it should 
have the abiding merit of cheapness, since it is easily pos¬ 
sible to supply water-gas at ten cents the thousand feet, 
and still make a handsome profit on the transaction. 

As to Heaters and Heating 

Since a good three parts of the world lives in hired 
houses, the manner of heating them is a fixed fact, to be 
accepted and made the best of. But in choosing a hired 
house, with two otherwise equally desirable, take that 
which has steam or hot-water heating in preference to 
a furnace. Similarly, choose open grates rather than 
stoves. Stoves can be so managed as to heat without 
harm, but in careless hands are deadly. The grate-fire, 
besides being the very best ventilator, is an excellent good 
comrade, withal no end decorative. Any uncluttered 
room indeed, with an easy-chair, an open fire, and a well- 




277 


Fourteen] 3Ltg!)ttng anti Heating 

swept hearth, is bound to be home-like and inviting, no 
matter how meagre its other plenishings. 

A register cannot but be uncompromisingly ugly, 
withal somewhat depressing; still, a furnace unquestion¬ 
ably saves so much in work and fuel, its day is likely to 
be long in the land. There are several hundred patterns 
of furnace, but all have the same essentials, to wit— 
fire-pot, chimney-pipe, chimney-pipe damper, dust-damp¬ 
er, check, draughts, water-pan, cold-air pipe, and hot-air 
pipes. No two patterns of furnace have these essentials 
placed exactly alike; hence the most that can be done is 
to indicate generally the uses, and the way to make most 
useful, the several parts. 

First, as to the fire-pot. If it is deep and narrow, it 
will hold heat tremendously, but give out a small supply 
proportionately to coal consumption. Such a shape is 
to be recommended where a low steady heat is required, 
without too much looking after. Contrariwise, a broad 
shallow fire-pot will make a house warm very quickly, 
but needs constant attention if it is to keep it so. 

Flues and pipes need a yearly cleaning—in spring, if 
possible—just as they go out of commission. The clean¬ 
ing out not only saves them from rust and corrosion, but 
discovers cracks and flaws at the season when repairs are 
cheapest and least inconvenient. It is well to give the 
pipes a further looking over when the time comes to 
build a fire. If there is the least thing wrong, have it 
instantly remedied, before even so much as a bit of 
kindling goes in the pot. 

The cold-air pipe is a crucial point. There may well 
be two such pipes—one coming from each side of the 
house. Then, when the wind blows east or west, that 
particular pipe can be closed without inconvenience. The 
cold-air pipe’s special function is to furnish pure air for 
the furnace’s warming, and thus to save the house proper 
as much as possible from invasion by cellar air. Some 




278 


Household Economy [Chapter 


cellar air will go through the hot-air pipes in spite of 
everything; hence the vital necessity, in furnace-heated 
houses, of keeping cellars in the most sanitary condition. 
The mouth of the cold-air pipe must be outdoors, and 
well away from drain or sewer openings or the neigh¬ 
bourhood of cesspools, and high enough not to draw in 
damp earthy air. Since it is a pretty big pipe, more 
properly a box, the mouths need to be double-covered— 
first, with fine wire-netting to strain out dust, and over 
that coarser netting, to keep the first from breaking 
through. Both covers need to be removable in order 
that, at pipe-cleaning time, the cold-air pipe may be well 
brushed out with a long-handled brush. 

The water-pan also had better be movable, so it can 
be kept scrupulously clean, since its use is to provide the 
hot air with enough watery vapour to keep it soft. A 
pan allowed to grow foul with sediment will taint the 
hot air irretrievably. 

Steam heat requires the services of a competent en¬ 
gineer. Hot-water heating, though adaptable to private 
use, likewise needs trained attention for the best success. 
Stoves ought to be very carefully set, both in order to 
lessen the risk of fire and to keep down the danger of 
coal-gas. Wood stoves for heating are obsolete in most 
parts of the country. I11 hunting-lodges or sea-shore 
cottages, where fuel fit for them is easily come by, they 
are useful, but nothing like so beautiful as an open fire. 

Gas heat has many drawbacks. If there is draught 
enough to make it sanitary, the cost is almost prohib¬ 
itive. The ordinary gas-log or gas-grate throws out into 
the room along with its heat many acrid productions 
poisonously irritant to throat, lungs, eyes, and mucous 
membrane generally. Still, a gas-log in a properly ven¬ 
tilated fireplace is an excellent and not over-costly dec¬ 
oration to a room otherwise insufficiently heated if the 
log is lit only about six hours in the twenty-four. Gas 



Fourteen] &tgi)ttng anli Heating 


279 


heat is especially undesirable in a bedroom. An oil- 
heater is much better—safer, and more sanitary. In¬ 
deed, oil-burning has been so perfected of late, the small 
oil-heater is the very best thing to use where continuous 
heating is not required. 

Fuel—Choice and Care of It 

Wood is out of reach of all but the very rich and the 
very poor. In cities the use of it lies mainly betwixt the 
millionaires and the ragamuffins, who gather to them¬ 
selves the flotsam of buildings old and new. Still, many 
who heat their houses with coal cook their dinners with 
wood. Hence it may be worth while to say that stove- 
wood needs to be cut at least three inches shorter than 
the fire-box it is to fill; that small green sticks half-sea¬ 
soned make a much hotter fire than those fully seasoned; 
also that hard wood cooks much better than soft wood, 
but that the ideal fire is begun with soft wood and con¬ 
tinued with hard. Rotten or half-rotted wood is always 
unsatisfactory fuel, unless one wishes simply to keep a 
smouldering seed of fire. For that a bit of stump, espe¬ 
cially one from deep in the ground, is the best thing in 
the world. 

In buying wood for an open fire, choose oak, hickory, 
or elm, or beech, in round sticks or split three to four 
inches through. Every cord will contain more or less 
littery small stuff. Burn a little of the small stuff when¬ 
ever a fire is lighted, and mix the sorts of wood; thus 
the burning is longer and more picturesque. Wood 
keeps better under a shed than in a cellar. If the cellar 
is inevitable, store the wood where it is coolest, and now 
and again sprinkle the sticks. They should not be 
soaked, but kept sufficiently moist to burn steadily. 
Wood bone-dry, as when kept in a furnace-cellar, flashes 
up and out all in a whiff. Kindling wood, however, can- 






28 o 


Household Economy [Chapter 


not well be kept too dry. It should be split rather coarse 
and of different lengths. Thus it will almost pile itself 
into the best possible kindling shape. In storing kindling 
wood, separate the splinters and very small sticks, so half- 
a-dozen may be laid next the paper at lighting a fire. 

Coal is of two sorts—anthracite and bituminous. An¬ 
thracite is very black, hard, and shiny, with but little 
dust. Bituminous coal also black, is less shining, has a 
clumsier fracture, and a sort of greasy look. Anthracite 
burns with very little flame, and that blue rather than red. 
Bituminous, or soft coal, burns with much more flame— 
red, yellow, bluish, and white. It is also much smokier, 
and makes more dust and ashes. That is why in cities 
the use of soft coal is so largely forbidden, unless the 
users take pains to burn the smoke as well as the coal. 

Anthracite is the best coal, bituminous the cheapest. 
The goodness or badness of either is largely determined 
by its freedom from slaty admixture. The slate veins 
are also black, but are readily detected. So it rarely pays 
to buy coal “ sight unseen ” unless one knows the dealer, 
and is satisfied that he will play no tricks. Anthracite 
is divided into red ash and white ash. The red ash is 
best, in that it burns up more completely. It is commonly 
about a dollar in the ton higher than white ash. At the 
mines or, rather, the breakers, coal is graded as to size. 
Standard sizes are pea, nut, egg, range, grate, and fur¬ 
nace. The size bought must be largely determined by 
the sort of grate or fire-pot for the burning. Obviously 
it would be a great waste to buy coal so small it would 
stream out between the grate-bars or the bottom of a 
fire-box, and almost as much so to buy it so big one 
lump could not lie close enough to another to admit of 
proper burning. 

Wherever it is possible, the coal-house or coal-bin 
should have a tight floor slanting a little toward the door. 
Let the floor-planks opposite the door run through it 




Fourteen] 2ltg!)ttttg anti Heating 


281 


and three feet beyond, depressing the outer end to match 
the floor-slant. A coal-hod placed mouth down upon 
these sloping planks can be quickly and easily filled by 
raking in the coal with a light steel hoe. Further, with 
the sloping floor it requires very little strength to keep 
the coal always down at the door and ready for use. 

For the very small sizes a tight bin, with a low spout 
something like a pump spout, closed by a sliding panel, 
saves much work. The spout must be just high enough 
for a scuttle to go underneath. Coal of such sizes must 
be kept strictly apart from the grate-supply or the big 
lumps for the furnace. 

Except upon pain of freezing, permit nobody to bring 
coal until the household is ready for it. Do what one 
may, getting in coal is a dirty job. It ought, therefore, 
to be only a yearly one. August is a good time to put 
in the year's coal, and September better still. Have the 
storage place, whether house, shed, or bin, thoroughly 
cleaned out and whitewashed. If the supply comes 
through a sidewalk tunnel, cover steps, windows, and 
walls nearest the hole with old carpet, or heavy paper 
well weighted. Then, as the coal is dumped, let some¬ 
body sprinkle it well with a fine-rosed watering-pot or 
spray nozzle. Wet the pile down again as the putting 
away goes on. Open cellar doors and windows, or ven¬ 
tilators, but be sure the registers are tightly closed; also 
all doors from the cellar to the house above. After the 
coal is in, sweep the cellar twice, first with a wet broom, 
then a dry one. Lift carpets or paper very carefully, 
and shake the coal-dust from them into a scuttle rather 
than in the street. 

If coal must be carried across a lawn or bit of garden, 
lay down planks for the carriers to tread or run their 
barrows on. Tramped grass, with coal ground into it, 
is seldom healthy afterward. Keep the plank from year 
to year, and have all ready for the transit before a lump 




282 


Household Economy [Chapter 


of coal falls. Here, as in the other case, sprinkling is 
useful—as anything is useful which helps to cleanliness 
by prevention. 

Making Fires 

To light a furnace-fire, see first that the pipe-system 
is in order, and the fire-pot and ash-pan free of ashes. 
Close all registers, next fill the water-pan. Half-fill the 
fire-pot with kindlings, the very lightest at the bottom, 
upon a little greasy paper. Open the draughts; that is, 
the holes in the bottom of the furnace-doors. Set fire 
to a wisp of paper, and thrust it in the chimney-pipe to 
start the up-draught, then set fire to the kindling, let it 
burn for five minutes; then put on some heavier sticks, 
and, when they are well caught, a thin layer of coal. As 
soon as this layer is well afire, fill up with coal almost 
to the top of the fire-pot. 

Now open registers, fresh-air pipe, and the damper. 
When the deep coal is well afire, close the draughts. By 
and by, when the house is well warmed, open the check- 
damper slightly to still further slack the fire. 

In moderate weather a well-built furnace-fire will last 
for twenty-four hours. In severe weather it ought to 
have fresh coal at night, and in arctic spells be kept so 
freely burning it will need a fresh hodful in the middle 
of the day. Combustion is regulated by draughts, checks, 
and dampers, the use of all which may be readily learned 
from the man who cleans out and looks after the pipes. 
One most essential thing in building up the fire is to 
close the draughts tight, and open the damper, leaving 
them thus for fifteen minutes after putting on the coal. 
This is to drive the coal-gas up the chimney-pipe. It 
escapes when heat first strikes through the coal, and is 
so heavy that, unless thus sent up in a forced draught, 
it will ooze and creep up through the registers, poisoning 
the house. Brighten the fire a little in the morning, and 



Fourteen] Htgfjtmg anti Heating 


283 


put on a thin layer of coal before raking or shaking it. 
When that layer is well afire, do the shaking, and refill 
the fire-pot. 

All that has been said of building a furnace-fire applies 
to stove-fires, especially the part about keeping draughts 
closed and damper open after putting on fresh fuel. A 
grate-fire is managed by help of a damper in the chim¬ 
ney throat and a blower. Kindle with crumpled paper 
and wood, then put on a little coal, and set it going with 
the blower. As soon as the blower gets very hot, fill 
up the grate, put on the blower again, let it stay till the 
coal is red half-way up, then take it down and close the 
chimney-damper. 

To make a noiseless fire, as in a sick-room or a par¬ 
lour, put the coal in paper-bags, and lay it bag at a time 
in the grate. Do not put on a fresh bag until the paper 
of the first has burned through. Thus a fire can be 
kept up not only noiselessly, but without dust or dirt. 
To take away the ashes from such a fire, sprinkle the ash- 
pan well before touching it, take it out, set it gently 
across a long doubled wire, catch the wire up each side, 
and carry outside the room. Brush up what ashes may 
remain with a feather brush, and wipe the whole space 
quickly with a damp cloth. 

A range-fire—any coal fire, indeed—is built upon the 
same general lines as that in the furnace. But it is 
worth while to say that in a range-fire, baking depends 
on understanding the use of the damper. A damper, be 
it understood, is a flat movable iron-plate that when open 
lies almost flat against some part of range or furnace, 
and when closed very nearly shuts some aperture. In a 
range, what is known as the smoke-damper is most com¬ 
monly right at the foot of the chimney-pipe. When it 
is open, smoke and hot air go curling up the chimney, 
passing only over the top of the oven. When it is closed, 
the smoke struggles, somehow, upward, but most of the 




284 


Household Economy [Chapter 


hot air is drawn under and around the whole oven-body 
to find exit at a lower opening into the chimney-pipe. It 
is in this passing around that the hot air carries with 
it the fine ashes which cover the tops of range ovens. 
They should be removed from the oven-top at least 
monthly. Fortnightly is better. Minute directions for 
range fires would be a waste of space. No two makes 
of range, hardly any two ranges, burn the same. Be¬ 
sides, a person of average intelligence will not make 
three fires without learning more than could be taught 
in a whole book. 

Clinkers 

Clinkers are the penalty of carelessness. If a stove 
is properly managed, and never allowed to get white hot, 
there will be no clinkers, which are aggregations of min¬ 
eral matter fused from the coal, but unconsumed, and 
adherent to the grate-bars. The remedy for them is 
quicklime, either in its proper form, or as oyster or clam 
shells. Put the shells—which are preferable—over the 
face of a very hot fire, and let them burn up. The clink¬ 
ers should come away in the ashes. If quicklime is used, 
be sure the lumps are well burned and not too big. They 
have a tendency to put out the fire instead of making 
it hotter, as is the case with shells. In taking up ashes 
after such a burning, strike the clinkers still adherent 
smartly with the poker. Unless they come away with¬ 
out difficulty, burn more shells or lime next day. 

Softening Heat 

A stove should have a vessel of water, an earthen ves¬ 
sel if possible, set on top of it whenever it holds fire. 
Empty the vessel daily, and wash it clean. With steam 
heat or hot-water heat, set earthen bowls full of water 
on top of each radiator. Furnace heat can be softened 




Fourteen] §ltgf)ttng anti Heating 


285 


either with the cheese-cloth screens (See Chapter on Sick- 
Rooms) or by hanging a big wet sponge in front of the 
register, whenever the fire is fiercest. Another way of 
softening furnace heat is to open wider the fresh-air pipe, 
thus giving more air than the furnace can dry out. This 
also reduces the heat, an end more cheaply attained by 
slacking or banking the fire. 



Chapter FIFTEEN 

ifetclv&oom ant Jlursinij 

S INCE the trained nurse is a luxury of woe be¬ 
yond reach of so many of us, it is worth while 
to set down some things, possible to any person of 
ordinary intelligence, which, faithfully followed, 
will make her absence much less keenly felt. 

Beds for the Sick 

The ideal sick-room is very clean, somewhat bare, rea¬ 
sonably spacious, airy as all outdoors, well lighted but 
capable of being noiselessly darkened, windowed upon at 
least two sides, with an open fireplace, and doors so hung 
and fitted they do not slam, creak, nor bind. 

Where choice is possible, take the room most nearly 
approaching these conditions. Remove all draperies 
and superfluous furniture, take up the carpet or cover it 
with a sheet of unbleached coarse muslin, tacked down 
smooth and tight, and glue felt-pads upon the legs of 
all sorts of small movables, as chairs, tables, and so on. 
A brass or iron bedstead, three-quarter size, is best. 
Single beds are handy in confined spaces, but do not ad¬ 
mit of the easy postures possible on wider couches. 
Whatever the size or material of the bedstead, see that 
it is stout and tight, so there shall be no creakings or 
givings away, to torment over-wrought nerves or fevered 
brains. 

A firm woven-wire spring, with a light curled-hair 

286 



tdFftoom anti jkumng 


287 


mattress above it, is the best bed. Thick heavy mat¬ 
tresses are ill to turn and shift. Put either a thick com¬ 
fort, or pad of cotton tacked between cheese-cloth, on top 
of the mattress, and change it for a freshly aired one 
every other day. Spread a clean sheet big enough to 
tuck in all round over the pad, and fasten it at the cor¬ 
ners underneath the mattress with safety-pins, securely 
clasped. Tuck in the upper sheet at the bottom, but not 
along the sides, and be sure to lay a fold three inches 
wide in the sheet and the blankets, just above the foot. 
This keeps the bed-covers from binding the feet disagree¬ 
ably, and producing cramps in them. The sheet should 
be long enough to fold back six inches over the top of 
the blankets, which should be so spread as to rest half-way 
up the bolster. 

A soft bolster and three pillows of varying hardness 
complete the bed-furnishings. Nothing so rests a tired 
or fevered head as a fresh, cool pillow in a clean slip, 
of proportions unlike that on which it has been lying. 
Further, raising the head or lowering it often helps to 
induce sleep. In at least seven cases out of ten, sleep 
is nature’s best medicine, and medicine’s best ally. If a 
counterpane is used, let it be very light, and smooth to 
the touch. Illness accentuates every sense; rough or 
furry or honeycomb surfaces may be horribly irritating 
to racked or fevered nerves. 

Set the bed well away from the wall, even at the head. 
No matter how quiet the house-seat, there will inevitably 
be jars and vibrations running through it, to communi¬ 
cate themselves to whatever touches a wall. Where the 
room is big enough, it is a good plan to put the bed 
quite in the middle of the floor, unless such placing brings 
the light over the patient’s head or full in his eyes. 





288 


Household Economy [Chapter 


Other Furnishings 

With the bed placed, set a small table, light but firm 
on its legs, a little way behind the bed-head. Cover it 
with a folded towel, changed daily, so nothing set upon 
it shall make a clatter. Keep on it a pad and pencil for 
marking hours to give medicine and nourishment, to re¬ 
cord the patient’s temperature, and such other notes of his 
condition as shall seem advisable. Beside the pad keep 
the clinical thermometer, soused in a glass of borax- 
water. Wash the thermometer clean before putting it 
in the patient’s mouth, and wash again before it goes 
back into the borax-water. Change the water every day, 
and scald out the glass at each changing. 

Space permitting, three tables are none too many. 
Have a small but stout one exclusively for holding the 
light, and a bigger one, with a drawer, for ice, medicines, 
cups, bowls, and spoons. It should have a washable 
cover, changed at least every other day, and a spread of 
cheese-cloth to throw over it. A tiny porcelain refrig¬ 
erator is the best thing for keeping ice, but a cheap and 
excellent substitute for it may be made from a common 
red flower-pot and a wire trivet, with a cheese-cloth cosey 
for the outside. Get the flower-pot broad and flat, and 
see that the saucer is of generous size. Set the trivet 
in the middle of the saucer, lay a small block of ice on 
the trivet, then turn the flower-pot over it, upside down, 
and put a wisp of absorbent cotton in the hole at the 
bottom. Over the whole contrivance set the wadded 
cheese-cloth cosey, which is like a tea-cosey, only bigger, 
and tacked instead of quilted. Sew a big button on top 
to lift it off by. Spread a folded paper under the saucer, 
as after a while it gets moist through, and will mark the 
table-top. 

A darning-needle of the biggest size, stuck into a little 
wooden handle, makes the best ice-pick for a sick-room. 




Fifteen] ^(^3^00111 atltJ jBtttrStttg =89 


Ice crystals run all one way, and a little study of the 
block will show it. Set the ice on the trivet so that the 
crystals may run up and down. When a bit of ice is 
wanted, take off the cover, stick the needle in a little 
way from one edge of the block and work gently back 
and forth, and the ice will cleave readily along its crystal¬ 
line lines. Break several long slivers; they can be crushed 
in the palm by blows of the hammer. Thus crushed ice 
is quickly and silently made ready. There is hardly a 
form of illness in which, at some stage or other, crushed 
ice is not almost a necessity. 

If a window can be spared, fit outside it a small fresh- 
air closet (see Chapter on Closets) for holding food. 
Nothing to eat must stand in a sick-room. Neither must 
food be kept where air from the sick-room will pass con¬ 
stantly over it. Open the window only when it is abso¬ 
lutely necessary, and close it the minute closing is possible. 
The fresh-air closet may cover only the lower sash, leav¬ 
ing the upper one available for ventilation. But, unless 
it can be kept closed, do without the closet. Better bring 
food all the way from the kitchen than keep it where it 
runs the risk of being poisoned. 

If hot water is ordered for any purpose, do not use 
that which comes from the faucets. Boil it fresh, and, 
if possible, after filtering. The boiling is best done out¬ 
side. But in summer, or where the kitchen is a great 
way off, a small alcohol-stove is a very present help. 
Oil-stoves should not be used inside a sick-room. No 
matter how carefully they are managed, they will smell 
enough to distress acute sick nostrils. For the same 
reasons lamps are out of place, unless in summer, with 
an open fireplace in which they can be set, and create 
a purifying draught up the chimney. 

With gas at hand, a gas-stove is not objectionable. 
One with two burners is best. In cases of lung fever, 
bronchitis, and kindred complaints, there is often great 




290 


Household Economy [Chapter 


relief from setting a vessel of clean water over a gas- 
stove turned so low the water barely simmers. The 
vapour softens the air, and makes it less distressing to 
labouring lungs. There must not be enough of it to 
produce dampness. 

With furnace heat it is well to put a screen of double 
cheese-cloth over the register, and keep the cloth con¬ 
stantly wet. Thus it not only softens the air, but strains 
it of dust and irritating particles, besides making it de¬ 
lightfully fresh. The best screen is a box a little bigger 
than the register-opening, mounted upon standards, open 
at one end, and with the cheese-cloth tacked firmly over 
the other. Set the open end against the wall; the hot 
air pouring inside will have to pass through the cloth 
before escaping. Set a bowl of clean water on top of 
the box, and lay tapes from it to the cheese-cloth. They 
will serve as siphons to keep the strainer wet. Fill up 
the bowl at least three times a day, rinsing it well each 
time. 

Whatever the sort of light, have a screen upon the 
table with it. Thus it is easy to shade the patient’s eyes. 
If candles are used, have at least three in light flat-bot¬ 
tomed sticks, and provide always snuffers and extin¬ 
guishers. Do not blow out a candle. Instead clap the 
extinguisher over it. Thus there is no smoke nor 
smouldering. Beware of striking matches in a sick¬ 
room. Even to light a fire, bring in a taper set going 
outside. 

Every sick-room ought to have at least one light fold¬ 
ing-screen, with a scrubable white-wood frame, and 
panels of gathered lawn, cheese-cloth, or silkoline. Two 
screens are better than one; then a bed can be fairly 
inclosed while a room is thoroughly aired. Make the 
panels of stuff so cheap they can be burned when no 
longer needed. Where there is an open fireplace, there 
is no better way of ventilating a room thoroughly in 




Fifteen] §^tCkdkOOm tltltl JiUtStUg 


29I 


summer than to set the screens so as to inclose the fire¬ 
place ; then shut doors tight and open windows six inches 
from the top, while an excelsior torch is burning out. 
That should take about five minutes; wire the excel¬ 
sior loosely to a bit of lath eighteen inches long. The 
screens keep in the heat and force an upper draught, 
which brings down the foul air from close beneath the 
ceiling. 

Besides the tables, the room needs an easy-chair and 
one or two light straight-backed chairs, preferably of 
bent wood. It should have also either a bureau, chif¬ 
fonier, or closet, emptied of everything but sick-room 
requisites. They should always include great plenty of 
towels and bed-linen, extra blankets, a clean light com¬ 
fort, a rubber blanket, flannel foot-cloths, and flannel 
bags for hot-water bottles; and, in a drawer wholly apart, 
the patient’s bed-gowns, along with socks or stockings 
and clean handkerchiefs. A warm light shawl should 
hang close to the head of the bed, where it may be thrown 
about the patient at a minute’s warning. 

Temperature in the Sick-Room 

Keep the temperature even, anywhere between sixty 
and seventy degrees that the physician may order. This 
is much easier in winter than in summer, but may be 
managed even in the dog-days. To do it, take out win¬ 
dow-sash and remove doors from their hinges. Instead 
of them have light frames, like screen-frames, fitted or 
hinged, and fill them with double cheese-cloth. Keep 
the cloth wet constantly; in straining through it the air 
loses heat as well as dust. Very high temperatures are 
debilitating to most constitutions, but in exceptional cases 
heat proves tonic. Where there is wasting and great 
weakness, especially in convalescence, eighty degrees 
may prove as helpful to the patient as it is trying to the 




292 


Household Economy [Chapter 


nurse. The great thing as regards temperature is not 
to let it run up and down. Alternations of even ten de¬ 
grees may be fatal; particularly in lung troubles or con¬ 
tagious diseases. 

A sick-room is better without plumbing fixtures. If 
it adjoins a bath-room, open the connecting door as little 
as possible. Keep a pitcher and basin of water on the 
big table, also a bowl for rinsing things immediately 
wanted. Do as little washing up inside the room as pos¬ 
sible. Do no cooking at all, unless to heat milk or broth 
over a gas-stove, bringing it in as wanted, and keeping 
it closely covered while it heats. The aim of everything 
is to prevent noise, dust, odours, and vibration. Set 
down things quickly and firmly, and keep all hard or 
polished surfaces covered, so there can be no sound. Do 
not rattle spoons against cups or glasses, nor drop them 
with a tinkle upon the tray. There should be two trays 
—one square, and big enough for a plate, cup and saucer, 
and tiny bone dish; one round, and just large enough 
to carry a cup or glass. There should be clean white 
covers for both, and care should be taken never to spill 
or slop things about them. Nothing under heaven is so 
capricious as a sick appetite, and often nourishment means 
more than medicine. This is particularly true in con¬ 
valescence ; then a good cook and dainty nurse are worth 
a whole army of doctors. 

A bath-tub comes in well, but is not wholly essential. 
A foot-tub can in no wise be done without. Both should 
be of tin, well japanned, and as light as possible. Have 
also two tin water-carriers, a porcelain slop-jar, two 
light commodes with close-fitting covers, a great plenty 
of bath-sponges, plenty of ammonia, and a soap-dish 
well furnished with unscented soap. In addition, in a 
place wholly apart from all else, keep bottles of disin¬ 
fectants— chloride of lime, soda-water, bichloride of 
mercury, copperas-water, etc. (See Chapter on Disin- 




2 93 


Fifteen] ^tCfe^OOm Etltl JlUtSttlg 


fectants.) Clear lime-water is best kept in the fresh- 
air closet, or wherever is the place for nourishment. But 
there may well be two bottles of it—one for disinfection. 
It is the only one among the disinfectants wholly without 
odour. Put a cupful into a commode before it is used, 
and after use add a cupful of some stronger disinfectant 
before sending the vessel to be emptied. After empty¬ 
ing, it should be scalded and set to air, with half-a-cupful 
of chloride of lime in the bottom. All the bottles must 
be marked in big staring letters, with their names, and 
“ Poison ” underneath. Take care, in refilling a bottle, 
to keep it true to label. 

Cleaning a Sick-Room 

A room thus managed will never need pastilles nor 
any other stuffy device for disguising ill odours. It will, 
however, need to be cleaned at least weekly. But never 
put a broom on the floor of it. Go over it with a dust- 
mop, the ends wrung very dry out of boiling water. 
Wash the mop out as fast as it grows soiled. If the 
patient is too ill for that, wipe the floor with a damp 
cloth every other morning. Put a little bichloride of 
mercury solution in the wiping-water, say a teaspoonful 
to the gallon. Take off dust daily with a clean slightly 
damp cloth, changing to a fresh cloth as soon as the first 
grows soiled. Let nothing littery nor dusty go inside 
the room if possible to keep it out. Have a thick soft 
mat outside the door, a yard or two away, and insist 
that feet shall be well wiped on it before they go inside. 
At both sides of the bed spread down lengths of wash¬ 
able cotton, which can be removed, and either shaken 
clean or washed clean twice a day. To clean under the 
bed, dampen an old bath-towel and pin it firmly over a 
clean light broom; then go over the surface, holding the 
broom almost flat, and moving it in long gentle strokes. 




294 


Household Economy [Chapter 


This can be done in a minute, and prevents the distressing 
accumulation of down and dust. 

Summed in a word, sick-room cleanliness, like much 
else of sick-room management, means prevention. The 
room must be scrupulously clean in the beginning. Given 
that advantage, reasonable care will keep it wholesome 
for at least six months. 

Windows in the Sick-Room 

Windows are all-important—light and ventilation in 
large measure depend on them. Take down both shades, 
which are noisy, and curtains, which catch dust, and rely 
for the due modification of light upon either awnings or 
blinds. A simple awning, that can be made for twenty 
cents, is a length of stout drill proportioned to the win¬ 
dow height, with a tuck run eight inches above the lower 
end. In this tuck a lath is slipped. The upper end is 
tacked to the outer edge of the window-frame. Three 
rings are sewn at equal distances apart up the middle, 
the lowest one resting upon the tuck. A cord runs 
through them, and into another ring screwed into the 
upper window-frame. This draws the awning up when 
not needed. When shade is required, it is let down and 
held out from the window by laths running from rings 
screwed in the window-sill, to other rings in the ends of 
the lath in the tuck. 

To make a ventilator either at top or bottom of a win¬ 
dow, take a half-inch board eight inches wide and an 
inch shorter than the space inside the window-frame. 
Screw small brass eyes into the ends of the board three 
inches from one edge. Screw corresponding hooks in the 
window-frame, a little way inside the sash. When air is 
needed, either raise or lower a sash six inches, then set 
a board over the opening. The eyes fitting over the 
hooks will hold it fast, and the inrushing air give it a 



Fifteen] SjtcD&oont anti jEursttig 


295 


slight inward slant. Thus no direct draught will be 
possible, though fresh air comes in plentifully. 

To soften or change light, often a most refreshing 
thing in long illness, have a light frame the size of the 
window hinged to one side of the casing. Fill the frame 
with any light texture of restful colours, as light green, 
light blue, dead blue, pale gray, or pearl, or creamy pink. 
When the light is strongest, the screen can be swung over 
the window, wholly changing the aspect of the room; 
then, when the light is less fierce, it can be admitted un¬ 
screened. Deep green screens, with soft white drapery 
flung over them, are especially restful to the eyes of fever 
patients. 

Pictures nearly always irritate sick eyes, particularly 
after they have been stared at through weary night- 
watches. Often, in cases of nervous disorder, the wall- 
surface itself becomes hateful. Then, if a change of 
apartment is impossible, try the effect of wall-screens. 
They are nothing more than sheets of softly tinted stuff 
hung from a lath or pole to hooks screwed close under 
the ceiling. They must be self-coloured, with nothing 
staring about them. Figures on wall-screens or wall¬ 
papers, or any sort of hangings, have an atrocious trick 
of coming down from the wall to mop and mowe at the 
bed-fast. No strength of mind avails against this illu¬ 
sion of weakness, which has sometimes produced as real 
suffering as the most tormenting physical ills. 

Sick-Room Management 

Medicine and nourishment are matters for the physi¬ 
cian’s strict instructions. Write them down accurately, 
and follow to the letter. But, where latitude is given, 
use judgment in making variations. Do not hesitate to 
make them if any sudden or surprising change in the 
patient’s condition seems to demand them. In writing 




296 


Household Economy [Chapter 


down directions, do not set it “ a powder every three 
hours,” but “ powders at three, six, nine, and twelve ”— 
of course, varying the hour, but keeping the order. Then 
there can be no bothersome debate as to when the last 
dose was swallowed. In like manner, if drops or a 
draught are to alternate, write: “ Draught at eight, 
eleven, two, and five.” Keep to the same plan as regards 
nourishment, also with variable directions, as: “ Cold 
sponge-bath if five o’clock temperature is 103.” 

Keep this way-bill plainly written upon the table with 
the temperature-chart, where a glance will show what is 
needed. Set beside it a small clock which does not strike. 
If the ticking is disturbing, either set it outside or inclose 
it in a glass shade, or substitute an open-faced watch for 
it. But accept it as a cardinal truth that nothing justi¬ 
fies waking a patient out of sound refreshing sleep. Bet¬ 
ter let medicine, or even nourishment, go hang than thus 
cruelly to disturb nature’s recuperative processes. 

Do whatever needs doing to the last tittle, but not one 
grain beyond. That is to say, ease nerves, husband 
strength, and thereby effectually help the patient. Al¬ 
ways be on time, but do not spend five worrying minutes 
in wait for the time to come. Never begin anything until 
ready to go through with it. If a hot bath is ordered, 
or a mustard draught or blister, at a specified hour, do 
not set up a great pother about it half-an-hour before¬ 
hand. In the sick-room, more than almost anywhere 
else, “ They also serve who only stand and wait.” To 
wait without fuming is a Christian virtue nearly as rare 
as it is adorable. 


Bathing and Dressing a Patient 

A sponge-bath in bed is one of the very best weapons 
against wasting fevers. To give it with ease to nurse 
and patient, first spread a rubber bath-blanket out full 



Fifteen] ^tCfe^OOtlt EUtl 


2 9 7 


size, and very smooth, then cover it with the softest old 
sheet at hand. Spread the sheet as smooth as the blan¬ 
ket, then begin at one edge and roll up the two, sheet 
inside. Continue until one-half the rubber blanket lies 
in a tight small roll. Then move the patient well to one 
side of the bed, spread the unrolled half of the blanket, 
sheet side up, over the bed there, bringing the roll in the 
middle of the bed. Next ease the cover and lift the 
patient over the roll, spread it out over the other half 
of the bed, and pin the two upper corners in place. Be¬ 
gin at the patient’s feet and bathe upward, working stead¬ 
ily and quickly, and wiping dry as the bath proceeds. 
When the head and face are reached, get clean water, 
with a little aromatic ammonia or alcohol in it. Wash 
and dry quickly, remove soiled clothes, which have been 
pushed up around the shoulders in the course of the bath, 
also the bath-blanket and damp sheet, tuck the blankets 
well about the patient’s head and neck, give a little nour¬ 
ishment or stimulant if permitted, and leave him for five 
minutes. 

While he rests, take clean garments, which have been 
thoroughly aired and, if possible, sunned, put the sleeves 
of one well inside another, then spread them out in a 
crumply ring with the neck-bands in the middle. Gather 
up this crumply ring at the back of the garments, and 
lay them over the patient’s head. Draw one arm from 
beneath the blankets, slip it through above his head; do 
the same with the other, then, lifting him slightly, pull 
the crumpled garments down level with the shoulders. 
Slip both hands under the blankets, and draw the clean 
clothes gradually down. Any well-conducted patient 
should reward such work by going straight to sleep, and 
waking much refreshed. 

Change bed-linen in the same way the bath-blanket was 
used. It is better, however, to fold the half-sheet nar¬ 
rowly than to roll it. With a desperately sick patient, 




298 


Household Economy [Chapter 


do not risk taking off the cover to put on a fresh sheet. 
Slip the fresh sheet underneath the soiled one, gradually, 
while another person gently lifts the blankets. In the 
case of patients violently ill, it is well to protect the mat¬ 
tress with a rubber blanket spread smoothly over the 
mattress-slip. But there must be a comfort above the 
blanket, both for the patient’s ease and as a further pro¬ 
tector. If soiling discharges foul the sheet and com¬ 
fort, yet the patient is too ill to be lifted, slip a folded 
sheet very gently underneath him, then have it raised an 
inch by a person lifting each corner, and slip out the dirty 
things, replacing them with clean ones. 

Where it is desirable to change a patient from one bed 
to another, have the bed well aired, and warmed a little, 
even though it is summer. In cases of brain trouble, or 
where hemorrhage threatens, raising a patient even half¬ 
upright may mean death. If such patients needs must 
be moved when no stretcher is available, fold a wide com¬ 
fort double, put a stout slat or pole in the fold, and lay 
the patient on it, then have four people lift it, one at 
each corner. The pole prevents sagging, which is the 
main danger. 

Patients of this sort had better have fresh clothes 
slipped on over the feet, and drawn gradually up to the 
shoulders. Then, by moving them very gradually upon 
one side after the other, the arms can be got in the sleeves. 
But if motion occasions much distress, it is better to cut 
through the shoulder, and sew the sleeves lightly in posi¬ 
tion. Good housewives bear a conscience against cutting 
up good clothes, but it should never interfere with even 
the slightest easing of a very sick person. 

A Sick-Nurse 

Wear soft shoes, easy but not easy enough to scuffle 
about. They must be noiseless, of course. List slippers 




Fifteen] §2>tcfc=3koom anti jBtursttig 


299 


are not particularly desirable. Soft kid, with a flat heel 
of moderate height, is better. Have a frock of wash- 
stuff, sewed fast at the waist. It should be soft but not 
clinging, and so cut as to escape the floor by at least two 
inches. A white apron, changed every morning, and a 
white nurse’s cap are always advisable. The frock should 
be changed every three days for one freshly washed. A 
suspicion of starch makes the frocks feel cleaner, but they 
must on no account be stiff enough to rattle. They must 
likewise have neither ruffles, capes, strings, nor any sort 
of tag-ends. Neither must they be full enough in the 
skirt to flap and balloon about like a mainsail when the 
wearer needs to move quickly. 

Nothing is better than fine seersucker, or prints in 
small patterns and soft colours, or neat checked ginghams. 
Have a collar of the gown stuff, but wear a strip of white 
inside. Trifles, these? No doubt—if there were such 
things as trifles in dealing with illness and the whimsies 
of sick folk. A trim and dainty personality inspires con¬ 
fidence, and, what is very much more essential, appetite. 
Here is a story in point. A man who had fought through 
lung fever lay hovering in the borderland between con¬ 
valescence and collapse. It was very desirable that he 
should be nourished. His doctor, indeed, felt that there 
lay the crux of the case. With infinite trouble the sick 
man was persuaded to try to swallow a little broth. His 
nurse brought it duly, but before offering it slyly picked 
a speck from the edge of the cup with a finger not daintily 
clean. Consequently, the invalid pushed it angrily away, 
turned his face on his pillow, and could not be persuaded 
to touch food for twelve hours. When he did take it, it 
was too late. In three days he was dead. 

Always speak low but clearly in the hearing of a sick 
person. Never stand talking in his sight but out of 
ear-shot; he will infallibly imagine himself the subject 
of discourse, and draw unfavourable inferences. Many 




3°o 


Household Economy [Chaptei 


a desperate case has been pulled through in the strength 
of ignorance, and many more solely upon courage. Thus 
it behooves above everything to keep up the patient’s 
courage. Nothing is much more depressing, however, 
than exaggerated cheerfulness and made-to-order mirth. 
The Bible to the contrary notwithstanding, it is not al¬ 
ways a work of mercy to visit the sick. While in mild 
cases company may not do harm, or may even do good, 
nobody sick enough to raise a reasonable doubt as to the 
event of his illness should be permitted to receive indis¬ 
criminate visits, no matter how kindly they are meant. 

Right there is one of the places the nurse’s absolute 
authority comes well in play. She is for the time being 
no longer a person, but an entity under the physician’s 
strict control, responsible alone to him and her conscience 
as to his orders and their carrying out. She can say 
without offence: “So far, no farther.” If she is half¬ 
way fit for the place, she will of course exercise a wise 
and kindly discretion. Where the wearing business of 
night-watching stretches throughout weeks, she will 
know who to call on for help, and who to leave outside. 


Contagion and Disinfection 

A case of contagious disease should be instantly iso¬ 
lated in the room farthest away from the main family 
life. One person, and one alone, should take the nursing 
in hand. It is a cruel and often a fatal mistake to think 
that such disease must “ go through the family.” By the 
practice of a few simple precautions, it may be limited to 
the original case. Where the patient is a child, let the 
nurse be some person other than its mother, especially if 
there are younger children to be thought of. 

Only the chosen nurse and the physician must go inside 
the sick-room. When either comes outside, it should be 



Fifteen] ^tet^&OOm Etttl ^UtStltg 


3 QI 


clothed in a rubber cloak reaching from head to foot. 
The nurse’s outings should be limited. All outside ser¬ 
vices should be rendered to a closed door, and stop there. 
When anything is brought or taken away, the nurse 
should be notified by a knock, or should summon help 
by ringing a bell hung some way off, but with the cord 
inside the room. 

Make the room as bare as possible before taking in the 
patient. Remove carpet, curtains, rugs, pictures—every¬ 
thing, indeed, but the simplest necessities. Provide a 
cheap iron bedstead, if possible, with a spring cot for the 
nurse. Provide also earthen or well-japanned tin re¬ 
ceptacles for every sort of waste. A good-sized foot-tub, 
to hold soiled clothes and bedclothes while they undergo 
disinfection, is almost indispensable. So is a big light 
tin-pitcher for holding the bichloride of mercury solu¬ 
tion (see Chapter on Disinfectants), which is the main¬ 
stay in the fight against contagion. 

Provide gallons of this solution. All discharges, no 
matter how virulent the disease, may be removed with¬ 
out danger if they are covered fully with the bichloride. 
Cover soiled things with it likewise before setting the 
tub containing them outside. Once the solution has 
reached every part of a fabric, no living germ remains 
in it. It is best to let clothes and bedlinen lie in the 
solution several hours, or even over night. Commodes 
or bed-pans must be quickly emptied, cleansed, disinfected 
afresh, and sent back. 

Twice a day, clothed in a long rubber cloak, one may 
go to the door of the sick-chamber, and through it ask 
news of the patient. Regard for health forbids going 
oftener. Though the rubber cloak minimises the risk of 
infection, it is not an absolute preventive. The door 
should be well stripped inside. If there is another open¬ 
ing into an adjoining room, paste paper over the crack 
around it before the patient is taken in. Do this even 




302 


Household Economy [Chapter 


though the room be unoccupied. Germs are kittle cat¬ 
tle, with which one must take no chances. 

Remember always in scarlet-fever that the most dan¬ 
gerously infective period is when the convalescent patient 
begins peeling. Rub the patient lightly with vaseline 
twice a day, and wash off in warm soap-suds just before 
the fresh application. This keeps the infective particles 
from flying off as dust, but makes frequent changes of 
clothes and bedlinen imperative; also the most thorough 
disinfection of the soiled things before washing. Measles 
is only faintly infective after cough and fever abate. 
Small-pox spreads most readily from a patient in the 
fever stage, but is also specially communicable when the 
dried vesicles are falling off. Diphtheria, typhoid, and 
other of the filth diseases are communicated through the 
infected matter thrown off at all stages. No discharges 
from such patients should be emptied without the most 
searching disinfection. One mild case without such pre¬ 
cautions may easily breed a hundred malignant ones. 
Where there is no system of drainage, all such discharges 
should be deeply buried after disinfection, but in a place 
where they cannot possibly contaminate either a water- 
supply or food crops growing in the ground. 

To disinfect a sick-chamber of this sort, first burn the 
mattress and comforts unless it is possible to have them 
treated with superheated steam. Blankets may be dis¬ 
infected with the bichloride solution, then washed, 
sunned a week, and washed again. Go over the room 
walls, scraping them thoroughly; then wash floors, walls, 
and ceiling well with the bichloride solution. Make 
them sopping wet. When they are dry, paste paper over 
every crack and crevice around windows, or in the walls, 
or anywhere about the inside of a closet. Before cov¬ 
ering the closet cracks, deluge them with bichloride, then 
cram them full of putty. By way of finish, tack a strip 
of tin so as to project two inches over the edge of the 




Fifteen] ^)tCk=l\OOUX atlt) 303 


room door, and hug the casing tight when it is shut. 
Now put a broad shallow iron-pan in the middle of the 
room, set in it a skillet, standing on legs say three inches 
high. Put into the skillet a pound of flowers of sulphur, 
pour on it an ounce of alcohol, and stick into it a small 
lighted fuse calculated to burn two minutes. Go out¬ 
side, shut the door, and keep it shut five minutes. Peep 
in then; if the room is full of sulphur smoke, shut it 
again, and leave it shut twenty-four hours. At the end 
of that time the room may be opened, aired, scoured, and 
refurnished in full security against lurking germs. 

A Medicine-Closet 

Keep medicines in a wall-closet so high as to be wholly 
out of reach by childish hands. Have double doors to it, 
each with a separate and secure lock, catching in a bar 
at the middle. All the inside ought to be cut up into 
pigeon-holes. In one side keep every sort of stuff that 
is even remotely poisonous. In the other store such 
standard things as calomel, borax, bicarbonate of soda, 
prepared chalk, Dover’s powder, blue mass, quinine, cas¬ 
tor-oil, rhubarb, Epsom, Rochelle, and Carlsbad salts; 
alum, dry copperas, spirits turpentine, spirits camphor, 
alcohol, whisky, brandy, all the family of herbs and barks, 
lint, bandages, finger-stalls, adhesive plaster, burn salves, 
healing salves, dry mustard, and healing lotions. Keep 
everything in bottles, wide-mouthed bottles with either 
screw-tops or ground-glass stoppers. Wrap the medi¬ 
cine bottles in blue paper to exclude light, and label them 
outside, in addition to labelling the bottles. 

Never put a half-used prescription nor any medicament 
of unknown composition up in this closet. Throw away 
any compound left over; there is no telling what changes 
time may work in it. Upon the poison side keep opium, 
laudanum, morphine, cocaine, dry blue-stone, white 




3°4 


Household Economy [Chapter 


vitriol, flowers of sulphur, Paris green, dry corrosive 
sublimate, dry chloride of lime, all the family of acids— 
oxalic, nitric, sulphuric, carbolic—ether, chloroform, tar¬ 
tar emetic, or any other substance capable of harm. Each 
substance should be in a tightly stoppered bottle, or tin 
or wooden box, so well closed air cannot get in or out. 
This half the closet must be kept always locked, and 
should have a single key, always in possession of the 
house-mistress, and seldom trusted out of her sight. 

Poultices, Bandages, the Uses of Plaster 

Prepare for emergencies—then they are not half so 
formidable. Devote old linen religiously to bandage 
uses. Tear it lengthwise into strips two to three inches 
wide, join the strips flat, laying one end on the other and 
running twice with soft thread into lengths of two or 
three yards. Pull off all ravellings, then begin at one 
end and roll up the bandage in a smooth softish roll. 
Make as many of these rolls as will half-fill a glass fruit- 
jar. Put a light weight in the bottom of the jar, pack 
the bandages over it, then fill up to the top with absorbent 
cotton, and set the jar upon an inverted plate, in a ket¬ 
tle of cold water, deep enough to have the water come 
within an inch of the bottle-neck. Put the kettle over 
a slow fire, and heat the water to about one hundred and 
eighty degrees, and keep the heat steady for three hours. 
Remove the kettle, let it cool somewhat, screw on the 
jar-top tight, and when cold take out of the water, wipe, 
and set away. The bandages and cotton will have been 
sterilised by the heat; hence in no danger of infecting a 
green wound. 

Make bags of old linen for poultices, with loosely run 
drawing-strings at the mouth. In use half-fill the bag 
with the poultice-stuff, and spread it by pressing between 
the palms. For poulticing a boil or abscess, first lay 




3° 5 


Fifteen] ^tcfc&oom anti Jtumng 


over the rising a bit of sterilised linen, lightly wet with 
olive-oil. On top of that put the poultice. If sterilised 
linen is not at hand, scorch a bit beside a flame or under 
a hot iron. Where poultices must be applied very hot, 
use three of the bags, keeping two of them constantly 
upon a bit of board laid in a hot oven. Wrapping the 
bags in soft flannel keeps in the heat, and often helps a 
poultice to abate severe pain. 

Mustard poultices wet with white of egg burn quicker 
than if water is used, but never blister the skin. Hot 
water is better than cold for wetting. Mix the dry mus¬ 
tard with half its own bulk of flour, wet to a soft paste, 
and spread evenly, about twice as thick as paper. Cover 
the face of the plaster with fine old lawn or very fine 
cheese-cloth. Where quick blistering is desired, wet the 
mustard with pepper-vinegar. 

Where there are many children, especially boys, it is 
wise to keep finger-stalls in plentiful stock. Make them 
to fit all sizes of finger, either of stout cotton or wash- 
leather, sew on narrow tapes for tying up around the 
wrist, and hang in rows upon the inside of the medicine- 
closet door. When a cut or bruised or mashed finger 
must be treated, wash it very clean, unless the bleeding 
is excessive, put a small flat pad of sterilised absorbent 
cotton over the hurt, then wrap a little more cotton around 
the finger, draw on a stall—open-ended or closed, as re¬ 
quired—hold the hand fingers up, and deluge stall and 
finger with spirits turpentine. Keep the hand up, but 
resting easily, for fifteen minutes. Unless there is pain, 
and inflammation shows beyond the stall, leave the hurt 
alone for two or three days. Generally in that time it 
will heal beautifully. 

Children, especially boys, should be taught, when they 
wound themselves on hands or feet in outdoor play, to 
at once suck the wound very clean. Lock-jaw, the thing 
which makes cuts and bruises dangerous, comes from a 



3°6 


Household Economy [Chapter 


bacillus that abides in dirt and grime. The toy-pistol 
mortality after the Fourth of July is due to the fact that 
the small boys who get hurt by their pistols have com¬ 
monly very dirty hands. A dry wound—that is, one that 
bleeds very little—is much more dangerous than one 
which bleeds freely. Sucking such a wound is the best 
means of instant cleansing. Before dressing such a 
wound, wash it very well with surgeons’ soap and tepid 
water, and paint with a camehs-hair brush dipped in very 
weak carbolic acid. 

For a gaping, bleeding cut, take a strip of court-plaster, 
two inches wide and rather longer than the cut. Fold 
it down the middle, and cut across the fold at eighth-inch 
distances, but do not let the cuts reach the edge. Leave 
at least a quarter-inch there. Then cut half the strips 
loose at one edge, the other half at the other. The re¬ 
sult will be two toothed strips of the plaster. Moisten 
them, and apply one each side of the wound. Hold the 
edges of it together while the strips dry a bit, then moisten 
the teeth of each strip, and stick them down across the 
cut so as to hold its edges touching. This saves stitches, 
which are no end painful, and apt to leave ugly white 
scars. 

Until the Doctor Comes 

Send for the doctor straight away in case of either 
serious illness or accident. But there are various simple 
things that may be done while waiting for him. As for 
example, in case of a fainting person, to loosen clothes, 
particularly where they bind the neck, to lay the head 
low—a little lower than the body, if possible—to dash 
cold water in the face, hold ammonia under the nostrils, 
rub wrists and temples with alcohol, camphor, or cologne 
water, or, if the faint is severe and prolonged, to put 
mustard upon the back of the neck. Give all the air 
possible, and permit no crowding. Even with an insen- 




Fifteen] ^tCfe^OOUt KTO) jRUmtlg 30 7 


sible person such crowding somehow robs the air of 
vitality. Insensibility from a fall predicates concussion. 
Offset it by vigorous friction of hands, feet, and along 
the spine. Stimulate at the earliest possible minute. 
Handle with the greatest caution, especially if there is a 
chance of an injured spine. Keep the patient reclining, 
but with the head something higher than the feet, the 
whole body in a gentle slope. 

For Cuts or Wounds 

Where blood comes in jets from even a small wound, 
there is no time to lose. The jetting is from a severed 
artery. Tie two handkerchiefs together, drawing the 
knots very hard. Slip them about the wounded part be¬ 
tween the wound and the trunk. Look for the course 
of the artery; set a knot well over it, thrust in a short 
stick, and twist it round and round until the knot indents 
itself deeply in the flesh. Keep the knot there until the 
surgeon comes. Five minutes in such a case may mean 
life or death. Cut veins, though not so dangerous as 
severed arteries, are sufficiently so to need almost equally 
prompt treatment. Where blood flows in steady streams 
of dark crimson, put the knot below the wound, and 
twist it as before directed. Veins gather up blood from 
the extremities. Arteries take their supply straight from 
the heart. 

In Case of Burns 

Burns, wide but not deep, may be coated with varnish, 
or covered thickly with dry flour. A better thing for 
them is the lime-water and oil liniment. (See Chapter 
on Disinfectants—Lime-Water.) Spread the liniment 
with a feather or camel’s-hair brush, and lay cotton-bat¬ 
ting thickly over it. 



3°8 


Household Economy 


For Acid Poisoning 

For any of the acid poisons, as carbolic, nitric, sul¬ 
phuric, oxalic, give raw eggs—at least three or four— 
sweet milk, melted lard, or flour and water mixed as 
thick as cream. Follow with calcined magnesia mixed 
in tepid water. Emetics are inadvisable; they rouse the 
seared stomach to too violent action. For narcotic poi¬ 
sons, as laudanum, opium, morphine, give first an emetic 
—mustard stirred thick in tepid water—and follow it 
with very strong coffee, a half-cupful every ten minutes. 
Keep the patient moving, dash cold water over him, put 
ice to the back of his neck, and make him smell aromatic 
ammonia. For chloroform stupor, give aromatic spir¬ 
its of ammonia well diluted, make the patient sniff it 
continually, keep him moving in the open air, and, if pos¬ 
sible, apply a galvanic current to the back of the neck. 

Ptomaine Poison 

Strychnine and prussic acid act so quickly, antidotes 
avail nothing. If ptomaine poisoning is suspected, give 
active emetics, stimulate the patient, keep him warm, and 
put mustard upon stomach, wrists, ankles, and the back 
of the neck. Arsenical poisons all require first an emetic, 
and then, without waiting for its action, two or three 
raw eggs, with a glass of sweet milk afterward. 

For Nose-Bleed 

For obstinate nose-bleeding, either put ice to the back 
of the neck, or pour cold water from a height so as to 
strike the crown of the head. Hold the head well up, 
and plug the nostrils with pledgelets of absorbent cotton 
wet in weak carbolic acid. Stretch both arms well above 
the head, and keep them there ten minutes. On no ac¬ 
count bend over, but do not lean back so far the blood 
will perforce run down the throat. 




Chapter SIXTEEN 

i&leacjjes, Disinfectants, anti 

Insecticities 

w 

W HEREVER water is used in preparing 

insecticides, bleaches, or disinfectants, it 
had better be soft. The alkali in hard 
water affects all chemical substances 
more or less. This chapter does not 
pretend to tell exhaustively of the things comprehended 
in its heading, but, rather, to indicate the things most 
readily compounded, most easily and safely applied, and 
most urgently needed in the ordinary household. 

Bleaches 

Javelle Water : A standard preparation for bleach¬ 
ing white things, and removing spots and stains from 
them. It must not touch coloured surfaces, as it is cer¬ 
tain to fade them. To make it, dissolve half-a-pound 
of washing-soda in a pint of boiling water, and mix it 
with a quarter-pound of chloride of lime, dissolved in 
a quart of boiling water. Stir well together, let settle, 
pour off the clear liquid, and keep closely corked in a 
dark place, as it loses strength by standing in air and 
light. 

Lime-Water: This is not strictly a bleacher; indeed, 
it has so many uses, it is hard to classify. It is good to 

309 


3 IQ 


Household Economy [Chapter 


soften water, to sweeten drains, to keep milk-vessels 
wholesome, to make milk itself set well upon squeamish 
or delicate stomachs, to test air for excess of carbonic 
acid—too much carbonic acid instantly crusts the clear 
lime-water over—to take out the marks of grease, which 
stronger alkalies have removed; in fact, for so many, 
many things no house ought to be without it. By beat¬ 
ing it well into sweet-oil or linseed-oil until the mixture 
is creamy, there results one of the best household remedies 
for burns and scalds. Beyond all that, lime-water costs 
hardly anything but the trouble of making, which is too 
slight to be worth a thought. Put a lump of quick-lime 
as big as the two fists into a clean earthen pitcher, cover 
it six inches deep with cold water, stir well with a wooden 
spoon, and let stand six hours. Pour off the clear liquid 
without disturbing the lime, but let it run through double 
cheese-cloth. Keep in small bottles tightly corked. In 
use, always pour off half-an-inch from the top of a bottle 
newly opened, or one that has stood for a day undis¬ 
turbed. Thus one gets rid of the crust—the fine irides¬ 
cent pellicle formed by the lime combined with carbonic 
acid. 

Chloride of Lime: Solutions of chloride can be 
bought easily and cheaply; still, there are many times 
and many more places where the dry chloride is safer and 
handier to use. Buy it in moderate quantities, a few 
pounds at a time, as it loses strength by standing. A 
solution of standard strength is thus proportioned—one 
pound dry chloride to one gallon boiling water. Dissolve 
in wood, or earthenware, or glass. Keep the solution 
tightly corked, partly to preserve the strength, but more 
to prevent oppressive smells. 

Carbolic Acid : With drug-stores in easy reach, it 
is scarcely worth while to dissolve carbolic crystals; it 
is so easy to buy a solution of any desired strength. But, 
since all the world does not live next door to the apothe- 




Sixteen] ISleatfjes anti Btstnfectants 


cary, it is here written down how to dissolve the acid 
for one’s self. Buy the crystals of it, which are among 
the deadliest poisons, say half-a-pound at a time, and 
keep them in a thick glass bottle with a ground-glass 
stopper, and well wrapped from light. Set the bottle 
on straw in a vessel of water, let the water boil, and 
keep it hot until the acid dissolves. Two tablespoonfuls 
thus dissolved added to a gill of cold water gives a 
solution of standard strength—twenty-five per cent. 
Keep both bottles plainly labelled, as: “ Carbolic Acid 
Crystals—Poison," and “ Carbolic Acid, twenty-five per 
cent. Solution—Poison.” 

Oxalic Acid : This is good for spots and stains 
rather than general bleaching. It will, however, whiten 
time-yellowed linens with less wear than any other thing. 
Put a gill of the solution in two gallons of freshly boiled 
water, and wet the linens thoroughly in it before wash¬ 
ing. Take care not to scratch or cut the hands, as the 
oxalic acid is a virulent poison. Hence never venture 
to keep it without a staring poison-label. Put four 
ounces of acid crystals and half-a-pint of cold water into 
a bottle they will a little more than half fill. Shake until 
the water is a saturated solution; that is, until it has 
taken up all the acid it can dissolve. A few ragged 
crystals will remain. After using part of the first solu¬ 
tion, add a gill more water. 

The Bleach-Barrel: Our grandmothers swore by 
the bleach-barrel, and well they might. Silks and rib¬ 
bons and Dunstable straw bonnets were none so plenty 
in the good old times that they could be thrown aside 
for a little yellowing. Still the bleach-barrel has its uses, 
not perhaps identical with those of elder times, but worth 
considering. It is no more than a headless barrel, set on 
end upon the ground or the hearth. Inside it there is 
an iron or earthen vessel to hold a handful of live coals. 
Across the top are sticks for hanging things, with a thick 




3 12 


Household Economy [Chapter 


cloth to cover the whole contrivance. Wash whatever 
is to be bleached, as silk, lace, fine woollen things, or 
straw hats, or silk stockings, through light suds to re¬ 
move the dust; rinse well, putting a little vinegar or lem¬ 
on-juice in the water, wring very dry, dust thickly with 
powdered starch, and hang over the sticks in the barrel. 
Cover with the cloth, then tip up one edge, fill the inner 
vessel with live coals, and dash upon them two ounces 
of flowers of sulphur. Set the barrel edge down quickly, 
so as to imprison the sulphur vapour. Let it stand for 
two hours, then remove the cover, pull the things in 
shape, and hang to air. After airing, brush out the 
starch with a soft bristle brush. Straw hats need to have 
the band removed, also to be very little wet. A rim of 
stiff card-board inside the crown helps to keep them in 
shape. 

Disinfectants 

Carbolic Soap: Shave and melt a bar of mottled 
Castile soap. The melting is best done in a water-bath, 
so there shall be no danger of scorching. Beat into the 
melted soap, a little at a time, half-a-pint of carbolic acid 
solution of fifty per cent, strength. Keep on beating, 
with the soap still in the water-bath, for at least a quar¬ 
ter of an hour. Mould into small cakes or balls, and 
let stand a month in a dry place. Suds made from this 
soap, or scrubbing with the soap itself, will disinfect 
glass, pottery, and metal. With wooden vessels, burn¬ 
ing is the thing. Carbolic soap-suds, however, will de¬ 
stroy germs in wood-work if applied to it boiling hot. 

Bichloride of Mercury: The king of all anti¬ 
septics is bichloride of mercury—more familiarly known 
as corrosive sublimate. Dissolve four ounces of the salt 
in a gallon of boiling rain-water. Let it cool before 
using. For most purposes this can be diluted one-half. 
It is very nearly the basis of antisepsis. Surgical instru- 





Sixteen] iSleacfjes anti Btstnfectants 


313 


ments are kept covered with the solution to the very 
moment of using, as only thus can they remain in the 
state known as “ surgically clean.” 

Bichloride is also a powerful insecticide, whose uses 
have been indicated in other chapters. (See Chapters on 
House-Cleaning, Sick-Room, Plumbing, and Sanitation.) 

Sulphate Solutions : All these have special uses in 
disinfection, yet are prepared practically the same way. 
Sulphate of iron, known colloquially as copperas or green 
vitriol, may serve as an example. Dissolve a pound of 
the salt in a gallon of water at slow gentle heat. Six 
hours should suffice. The result is a saturated solution. 
Weaken it one-half for flushing drain-pipes in fair con¬ 
dition. A neglected water-closet which gives out foul 
odours should have the solution at full strength, and 
boiling hot. Open drains, as about stables, or from 
kitchens without plumbing fixtures, also need to have the 
copperas-water boiling hot, though it need not be more 
than one-third strength. Dry copperas scattered through 
the litter of a stable, or about poultry runs, helps to 
sweeten them, also to prevent infection. 

Blue vitriol, or blue-stone, technically sulphate of cop¬ 
per, is less a disinfectant than a preventive, or, rather, 
germicide. Make the solution as with copperas, but 
dilute with four times as much water before using. 
Mixed in whitewash, and applied boiling hot, it banishes 
infection from kennels, stables, or poultry houses. Its 
main use is to destroy the grain smuts, all due to germ- 
infection of the seed. Many garden-seed grow more 
vigorously for wetting with the blue-stone water, and 
drying well before sowing. 

White vitriol, sulphate of zinc, is a powerful astringent 
and effective germicide. Like all the other vitriols, the 
solution of it needs to be carefully handled. Dissolve 
four ounces of the salt in a half-gallon of boiling water, 
strain, and bottle, taking care that the bottles are very 



3*4 


Household Economy [Chapter 


clean. Use the solution to clean and disinfect sores, es¬ 
pecially indolent old sores, diluting it with five times its 
bulk of tepid water. It is especially good on the frost¬ 
bitten feet of poultry, or frost-bitten combs, and, dis¬ 
creetly used, for the ailment known as “ scaly leg.” 

All three of the vitriols are used in medicine, but the 
fact acquits no one from the charge of criminal care¬ 
lessness if they are kept without the proper poison- 
label. 

Cellar Disinfectants : Quick-lime, borax, charcoal, 
dry copperas, and plaster, are the things to make and 
keep a cellar sweet and fresh. Move out all things mov¬ 
able, sweep, take up dust, open bins and closets, and set 
doors and windows wide. Then in every bin or inclosed 
space set an earthen vessel, a dish or bowl, with several 
lumps of quick-lime in it. Strew grains of dry copperas 
all over the lime, then slack it, but do not wet it, yet 
be sure the slacking is thorough. Steam from the lime, 
rising up and out, will take away all bad air and ill odours. 
Leave the cellar open and empty for two hours, then 
scatter dry powdered borax all around, in corners and 
along the walls; and, wherever there is a place where 
it will not be in the way, hang a piece of net, such as 
fish-net, with some lumps of fresh charcoal tied inside. 
Leave the borax until next cleaning-time. Take down 
the charcoal bags every few weeks, empty them, heat the 
charcoal very hot, return to the bags and replace them. 
Charcoal has marvellous power to absorb all sorts of bad 
smells. The power is strictly proportioned to its fresh¬ 
ness, which the heating restores. Make cheese-cloth 
pads of plaster, mixed with powdered slacked lime, and 
hang them against the walls that are likeliest to be damp. 
Both lime and plaster are so thirsty, they take all spare 
water to themselves, thereby preventing must and mould. 
A good way to make the pads is to stitch or run inch-tucks 
in a length of cheese-cloth or coarse lawn, then slip a 




Sixteen] Bleaches anti Disinfectants 3«s 


funnel spout into the open end of a tuck, and pour in 
the plaster and lime. Make the tucks an inch apart, and 
fill them evenly. Powdered charcoal may be mixed with 
the lime and plaster for pads which are to hang where 
food-stuffs are kept. 


Insecticides 

Moth-Killing: In the matter of moths, prevention 
is a million times better than cure. But where the pests 
exist, as in a rug or a carpet on the floor, there are two 
effectual remedies, both of which are troublesome. The 
first is steam, homoeopathically applied. Disturb the in¬ 
fected spot as little as possible, but spread over it a thick 
clean towel wrung out of hot water. Cover with a sec¬ 
ond towel also thick, and iron at least three times with 
blazing-hot irons. Repeat over the whole infected sur¬ 
face. It may kill every live moth, but may leave eggs. 
Within a week repeat the process. A fortnight later go 
over the carpet again. The work must be very thor¬ 
ough, and kept carefully continuous, as, if a single hand’s- 
breadth escapes the steaming, it is likely to prove the 
breeding-ground of a new moth-crop. 

Where there is sufficient ventilation to prevent danger 
of fire or explosion, also to carry away the smell, naphtha, 
or even well-refined kerosene, is excellent for moths. 
Sweep the surface clean, then go over it with a paint¬ 
brush dipped in naphtha until it is sopping-wet. Be care¬ 
ful to begin work upon uneaten surface, and to put a 
naphtha belt all round before touching the worst spots. 
This is to keep the moths from running into new har¬ 
bours. Keep the room closed tight for six hours, so the 
naphtha fumes may have a chance at flying moth-millers. 
Then open all doors and windows except those leading 
inside, and go through the room, fanning out the naph¬ 
tha-gas. No light should be brought into a room so 




3 l6 


Household Economy [Chaptei 


treated for at least two days, and it is a wise precaution 
not to strike matches in a hall adjoining so long as a 
smell of naphtha is perceptible. Neither the naphtha 
treatment nor the steaming, if properly done, will affect 
the most delicate colours. Small woollens suspected of 
harbouring moth-eggs may be wrapped in thin clean 
cloths, with thick wet towels rolled outside, and popped 
into a very hot oven until the towels scorch slightly. 
This gives a steaming sufficient to destroy most of the 
eggs. Repeat it ten days later, especially if the woollens 
are to be packed away. 

To Kill Roaches and Water-Bugs: Mix dry 
powdered borax with its own bulk of white sugar, and 
set it in shallow vessels all about where the crawling pests 
disport themselves. Renew the mixture every few days, 
taking care to sweep up and burn all the dead insects. 
Paint visible pipes, and the spaces where they enter the 
wall, periodically with turpentine. Let the turpentine 
run down and around the pipes, especially hot-water 
pipes, but be careful to do it when the water is cool. 
Now and again pour a spoonful of pure turpentine down 
sinks and traps. Cut Irish potatoes in half, dip the cut 
sides in the borax and sugar, and lay them about under 
sinks, tubs, and closets; indeed, in any place that offers 
safe harbourage. Do this toward evening. In the 
morning gather the potatoes, which should lie cut-side 
down, very quickly, and drop them into a bucket of boil¬ 
ing water. If insects are plenty, there will likely be from 
one to a dozen clinging to each piece. 

Larkspur : The common garden larkspur is one of 
the very best insecticides; the trouble is, one can seldom 
buy it, and the most part of those who need it have no 
chance to raise it. It should be sown rather thickly, 
and cut when the first flower-stalks are well budded. 
Dry in the shade, tie in bundles, and hang where it is dry 
and airy. Every part of the plant, leaf, stalk, and bios- 




Sixteen] 3Sleacf)esi anti Disinfectants w 


som, has the virtue of killing vermin, more particularly 
the vermin which infests living things. For fleas, lice, 
mites, upon cats, dogs, and poultry, a washing with lark¬ 
spur soap, followed by dustings with larkspur, powdered 
and mixed with cornstarch, works wonders. Unlike 
carbolic soap, the larkspur soap is not poisonous; thus 
an animal licking its coat after the washing is in no dan¬ 
ger. To make the soap, first infuse a generous handful 
of dry larkspur stems and leaves, in barely enough water 
to cover, for several hours. Strain off the tea, melt some 
good white soap in a water-bath, and beat the tea well 
into it. Continue beating until the soap cools, and leave 
the vessel containing it in a warm place for several days. 
Then cut out the soap, and set the cakes to dry. They 
should have a faint greenish colour. For the powder, 
pick off leaves, make them crisp in the oven, rub fine 
between the hands, and sift through fine net. Mix what 
passes through with starch, but do not throw away the 
coarser residue; it serves excellently to make wash for 
scalding out nest-boxes, bird-cages, and so on. In using 
the powder, part the hair along the animal’s back gently, 
and shake in. The nearer the back-bone and spaces back 
of the ears are covered, the more certain the effect. 

In the poultry-house larkspur is invaluable. A strong 
infusion of it, mixed to a whitewash, prevents mites, the 
minute pests which most trouble all sorts of feathered 
things. Mix larkspur-stalks in the nest-straw for sitting 
hens, and shake the powdered leaves, mixed with flowers 
of sulphur, well through the feathers on the back and 
around the neck. Mix the same powder well through 
the ashes of the dusting-box. 

For Mosquitoes : The mosquito is commonly a local 
issue, seldom prevalent more than a mile from his breed¬ 
ing-spot. Hence the usefulness of prevention. Mos¬ 
quitoes invariably breed in stagnant water. Seek out all 
such spots as soon as ice melts, and cover their surfaces 




3 l8 


Household Economy [Chapter 


with thin layers of crude kerosene. One ounce will 
spread over fifteen square feet of surface. Two weeks 
later make a second application, and, after a month, a 
third. By concerted action almost any suburban place 
or country neighbourhood may be rid of these pests. 

Where prevention is impossible, close sleeping-rooms 
tight in the morning, and burn in each of them a tea¬ 
spoonful of Persian insect-powder. Leave closed for 
three hours, then air well while the sun is hottest, and 
put back screens. Where a room must be occupied at 
once, and is found infested with mosquitoes, put a pinch 
of gunpowder upon a plate, set it in the middle of the 
room, and touch it off by means of a greased thread, 
lighted and allowed to act as a fuse. The concussion of 
explosion will kill most of the mosquitoes, and so stun 
the rest they may be easily fought away. 

Poison Powders : Paris green, Scheele’s green, and 
London purple, all of arsenical origin, are the things 
wherewith to conquer the myriads of garden insects. 
Most of these insects live by eating or sucking young 
leaves, vines, and stems. Such as the squash-bug, po¬ 
tato-beetle, grasshopper, locust, and flea-bug, quickly kill 
themselves if given the chance. To give them the chance, 
mix half-a-pound of the poison powder with half-a-pound 
of flour, and a pound of sifted slacked lime. Tie it in a 
cheese-cloth bag, and dust the plants well while dew is 
on them, or just after a rain. Newly set cabbage may 
be dusted the same as squashes, melons, and potato-vines. 
The poison vanishes in fifteen to twenty days; besides, 
if it did not, one would have to eat a whole barrel of 
the cabbage at one sitting in order to get enough arsenic 
for a dangerous dose. 

Bordeaux Mixture : Dissolve a pound of blue vitriol 
in five gallons of water, stirring well that no lumps may 
be left. Mix a pound of powdered unslacked lime with 
water enough to bring it to the consistence of creamy 




sixteen] 3 Bieac|)Cfii anti Btsttifectants 319 


milk. Stir well, strain out any grit, and mix slowly with 
the blue-stone, then add four gallons more of water. This 
is to be sprayed or sprinkled through a very fine rose 
upon shrubs and trees afflicted with rust, or any sort of 
fungous growth. If there are insects as well, some form 
of arsenic powder may be added to the mixture, which 
must be constantly stirred while the sprinkling goes for¬ 
ward. Bordeaux mixture, indeed, is standard and sov¬ 
ereign for grape-rot, mould, mildew, and scabby rust. 
Apply to grape-vines as soon as the fruit sets, so as to 
prevent even the appearance of evil. A later application, 
when the berries are half-grown, should bring them to 
ripening sound and perfect. 

Kerosene Emulsion : Put into a big jar half-a-gal- 
lon of kerosene and one quart of buttermilk. Stir hard 
with a wooden paddle, the harder the better. In five 
minutes the emulsion should begin to swell, and grow 
thick and buttery. If sweet milk must be used, turn it 
with vinegar before putting in the oil. For winter use 
on outdoor things, dip a sponge in the emulsion and go 
lightly over bark and branches. Never use the emulsion 
full strength upon any green and growing thing. Mix 
it with fifteen to twenty times its own bulk of warmish 
water, when it is to be used as a spray or for sprinkling. 
Thus used, it is sure death to plant-lice and all sorts of 
soft-bodied sucking things. For banishing red spiders, 
stir a little sulphur—an ounce to the quart—into the 
emulsion, then dilute with twenty parts water. Do the 
spraying or sprinkling as near night as possible, since 
it stays on longer then; besides, that is the time when 
predatory creeping things are most active. 

Bisulphide of Lime : This is equally valuable against 
plant or animal lice. To make it, mix half-a-pound flow¬ 
ers of sulphur with half-a-pound quick-lime, cover the 
mixture with boiling water, and boil for at least five 
hours, until a dark-brownish strong-smelling liquid re- 



320 


Household Economy [Chapter 


suits. Dilute this liquid with one hundred times its bulk 
of warm water, and use as either a wash or a spray. 

Soft Soap: For the orchard, garden, poultry-house, 
and stable, soft soap has many, many uses. All sorts of 
waste fat can be turned into it. Mutton fat, almost use¬ 
less for any other purpose, makes excellent soap for wash¬ 
ing fruit-trees. But whatever fat is used should be tried 
out, and kept where it will not become offensive. For 
soap-making, take three pounds of fat, and clarify it by 
boiling an hour with two gallons of water, and a bit of 
alum as big as the end of the thumb. Let it cool on the 
top of the water. Dissolve a pound of pearl-ash or con¬ 
centrated lye in boiling water, stir it well, let it boil two 
minutes longer, then take off the fire, and add the grease 
gradually, stirring hard all the time. Keep stirring until 
the mixture is nearly cold. Then put back on the fire, and 
add five gallons of boiling water a gallon at a time. Let 
the pot boil gently for half-an-hour, stirring every few 
minutes. Take out a little soap at the end of the half- 
hour, make a lather with it; if no grease shows on top 
of the lather, the soap needs only another half-hour’s 
cooking. If it is greasy, put in more lye, adding it grad' 
ually until the grease is taken up. If the soap does not 
thicken a little on cooling, add grease, a spoonful at a 
time. Cook steadily until done—an hour at least after 
adding the last grease or lye. Rightly proportioned at 
first, an hour’s boiling is enough. Unaccountably some 
fat is much greasier than other fat, and one can of pearl- 
ash or lye may differ from another in strength, although 
manufacturers honestly strive to make the strength uni¬ 
form. Let the soap cool in the boiler; hot soap will run 
through the tiniest crack or crevice in a barrel. To turn 
the soft soap into hard, stir in half-a-pint of clean salt 
to the gallon of hot soap, let it cool in something broad 
and shallow, and cut out the cakes. Soap keeps better 
in cakes, but, though they may be redissolved, the re- 




Sixteen] Bleaches anti Disinfectants 3*1 


sultant liquid is not quite so good. Use soft soap on 
fruit-trees and grape-vines in late fall or early winter, 
going over them well with a cloth or brush dipped in 
the soap diluted with its own bulk of boiling water. 
Scour out kennels, nest-boxes in poultry-houses, perches, 
and occasionally walls, with very strong suds, applied 
boiling hot. Make the same sort of soft soap-suds to 
scour mangers and floors in stables, especially if they have 
become vermin-infested. Nothing is much more effi¬ 
cacious against rats and mice than very strong soft soap 
swabbed for a foot or so inside their holes, and plentifully 
bedaubed around the hole-mouths. 

Against Flies 

House-flies are more than pests. There is a distinct 
menace in their buzzing and crawling. Screens do not 
always keep them out; neither is it always possible to use 
screens. Here are some fly-preventives, each warranted 
harmless to human-kind. Boil together two ounces of 
ground black pepper, four ounces of white sugar, and 
half-a-pint of sweet milk. Cook about a minute, then fill 
plates with the mixture, and set them where flies most 
do congregate. They will crowd to suck and die. Re¬ 
new the mixture every two days. Keep everything edible 
closely covered while using it, so dead flies may not drop 
in. Sweep up the slain twice a day, and burn, or bury 
at least a foot deep. 

Or, if there is a coffee-tree (Gymnocladus Divisus) with¬ 
in reach, get fresh boughs and twigs of it every day, and 
set them close to windows, above doors, and under tables; 
indeed, in all the house-fly's happy hunting-grounds. As 
the leaves wilt, the flies will go away; yet there is to 
human nostrils no offensive odour. The only trouble is 
to keep up the supply of fresh branches. After the leaves 
dry, the flies come straggling back. A remedy as potent, 



322 


Household Economy [Chapter 


and easier, is a sponge saturated with oil of lavender. 
If it is hung two or three feet above a table, flies will 
not trouble the table throughout a meal. Branches of 
rose geranium, bruised and hung up, or even pots of 
the growing plant, are said to have the same effect. 



The wicked flea pursues man, his dog, his cat, his pig, 
and, now and then, his cow and his goat. Wherefore 
he is a pest not to be lightly regarded. Cleanliness pre¬ 
vents him for the most part, but now and again into each 
life some fleas must fall. In addition to the remedies 
heretofore indicated for him—the larkspur soap, the bi¬ 
sulphide solution, the dry sulphur, and other things—one 
can depend on walnut boughs, full of fresh green leaves, 
or the leaves themselves, stripped off, and tied in cushiony 
bunches. Spread them under beds, on floors, around 
doors, and renew often. The pungent pennyroyal, either 
as oil or green plant, will also banish him to some extent. 
Dry borax dusted through the hair of a cat or dog will 
help to kill fleas; so will almost any good insect-powder. 
Fleas breed and harbour in dust, dirt, strawy litter— 
most of all, in shed hair. Old hog-beds, or the places 
where hogs have slept even a little while, are almost sure 
to swarm with fleas throughout the summer. If one 
needs must, as in camping, or picnicking, or in occupying 
a summer cottage, set foot in such places, the first thing 
is to rake and sweep up all that is rakable, sprinkle the 
pile well with flowers of sulphur, then with kerosene, and 
set it afire. If this is impracticable, as where the flea- 
harbour is under a house, get poles of pawpaw, red gum, 
young hickory, anything, indeed, with sweetish sap, 
have them peeled of bark—it will slip easily in summer 
—run the poles into the flea-territory, let them lie a while, 
then draw them carefully out, and scald with fully boil- 



Sixteen] BSleacijes anti Btstnfectants 3*3 


ing water. The fleas will cling to the poles, sucking for 
dear life; especially if they are thin, starveling fellows, 
who have never known the delights of blood-sucking. 

Moles and Mosquitoes 

Fight moles and mosquitoes with the same plant—the 
stately Palma Christi —the castor-oil plant. The seeds 
are the mole-bane. Drop them plentifully in the runs. 
Dig down neatly, so the mole will not suspect his burrow 
has been tampered with. If the castor-oil beans are 
smeared with sugar, they are said to be eaten more greed¬ 
ily. Against mosquitoes use leaves and branches of the 
plant. If there is water about, as a fountain, or a lake- 
let, plant the beans thickly around the edges. They grow 
five to ten feet high if given the chance, and are highly 
ornamental—sub-tropical as to foliage, and weird as to 
bloom and seeds. In addition to preventive planting, as 
around water, windows, and piazzas, set a borderful, 
somewhere out of sight, from which a daily supply of 
leaves and branches may be brought indoors. 

Bites, Stings, Ivy Poison 

All sorts of stings—whether from wasps, bees, hor¬ 
nets, or humble bees—should be sucked, to remove as 
much poison as possible; then have a slice of acid fruit, 
apple, tomato, or peach, or a crushed berry, or grape 
either ripe or green, bound lightly to the wound. If the 
pain is very severe, after a minute take off the fruit, wash 
the sting in warm water, and bathe it well in alcohol. 
Then wet a folded linen-rag in either alcohol or vinegar, 
and bind on the sting. If neither alcohol, vinegar, nor 
fruit of any sort is at hand, try a bruised plantain-leaf. 
Change the application, whatever it is, every ten minutes 
until the pain subsides. 



324 Household Economy 


Suck a bite, especially a spider-bite or snake-bite, very 
well, but be sure the lips and tongue have no raw places. 
If the bite inflames, and looks deadly angry, send for a 
physician, and, while waiting for him, wash the wound 
with carbolic acid in warm water, then bind on it a slice 
of fat pork or fat bacon. If the pain of a bite is agonis¬ 
ing, do not hesitate to cut open the bitten place deep 
enough to make the blood come in a rush. If a hand 
or foot is bitten, tie a handkerchief about it between the 
wound and the trunk, and draw the ligature tight enough 
to slacken the flow of blood. Give the patient whisky, 
and keep aromatic ammonia to the nostrils. If there is 
fulness in the head, loosen the clothes at the neck, and 
lay a cold cloth upon the crown of the head and another 
on the nape of the neck. Put mustard to ankles and 
soles of the feet. In short, do everything possible to 
keep up heart action and keep down convulsive tendencies. 

For ivy poisoning, sponge the poisoned parts well with 
alcohol. Go over the skin twice or thrice, using a clean 
cloth or sponge each time. In an hour repeat the spong¬ 
ing. It acts like a charm. Where alcohol is not at hand, 
daub the poisoned spots all over with vinegar made thick 
with gunpowder, and leave it on until dry. 



Chapter SEVENTEEN 

Healing dimples 

N ^OWADAYS the folk who sneer at healing 
simples as “ old women’s remedies,” are 
those who think they know so much, they 
prove they know very little. Herb-cure is 
not another name for faith-cure. Of old a 
wise man wrote, “ The earth hath in it the virtue of all 
herbs.” Now, in face of Kneipp barefoot cures, rest 
cures, grape cures, heaven knows what, let the book- 
learned cease from scoffing at the mention of barks, roots, 
and herbs. 


Tar as a Therapeutic 

Good pine-tar has in it nearly the whole virtue of the 
pine-woods; it is, so to speak, the soothing pine-scent 
made concrete. Tar is the residuary juice in pine-trees 
killed by scraping off the outer bark in gathering tur¬ 
pentine. It is distilled from the hearts, cut to fire-lengths, 
and burned in great kilns. For rheumatism, rheumatic 
gout, and some forms of dyspepsia, pure pine-tar, in pure 
apple-brandy, makes a fine medicine. Put two table¬ 
spoonfuls of tar in a quart of the brandy, and let stand 
two days, shaking well several times. Begin with a 
tablespoonful dose. Increase or decrease it according to 
effect. 

Tar pills, which are exceeedingly good for dysentery 
and all chronic troubles of the alimentary tract, are made 

325 



326 


Household Economy [Chapter 


thus: Measure half-a-pint of tar, melt, and strain it, then 
beat into it half its own weight of fresh yolk of egg. 
Boil a peck of white-walnut bark in water to cover it 
for six hours, strain out the bark, and boil down the 
liquid to a strong gummy ooze. There should be about 
half as much ooze as tar and egg. Mix all well together, 
then set in the sun under glass for a week. Make pills 
as big as a small grape, and roll them in fresh-grated 
calamus-root. One is a dose—to be taken at night just 
before going to bed. 

Tar ointments are good for all sorts of skin troubles, 
and also fresh wounds. For scald-head, milk-crust, or 
obstinate ringworm in the head, or chronic eczema, warm 
pure tar until it will barely run, and beat it gradually into 
its own bulk of freshly churned butter, unsalted, washed 
clean of milk, and creamed. Make a cap of black silk 
to fit the head close, leaving the seams outside. Smear 
the inside thickly with the butter and tar, put on the 
cap, tie it firmly in place, and leave it on until it comes 
away of itself. The hair, if any remains, must be cut 
short before putting on the cap. When it comes away 
there will be commonly a growth of healthy young hair 
starting underneath it. 

For wounds and malignant sores, take the tar and 
butter, and set in a water-bath while beating in half their 
bulk of melted beeswax. Mix thoroughly, then add 
gradually, and stirring hard all the time, as much strong 
elder-flower tea as there was wax. Beat until the tea is 
taken up to the last drop. In use, soften the ointment, 
but do not melt it, spread it upon silk or linen, and apply 
as a plaster, leaving it to come off of itself. But if such 
a plaster, or any tar or resin plaster sticks longer than 
agreeable, lift one corner of it, and sponge the skin un¬ 
derneath with alcohol. Keep sponging and pulling at the 
plaster until it is loose. This will not hurt nor irritate 
the skin, which is apt to be very tender. 



Seventeen] Healtng dimples 


337 


White-Walnut Tea 

For acute bowel troubles, accompanied by nausea, 
white-walnut tea is helpful. The inner layer of bark, 
next the sap-wood, is the medicinal part. Strip this 
inner bark at the time the bark slips—that is to say, about 
midsummer—and dry it quickly in the shade. Keep the 
bark dry. To make the tea, put a handful of the bark 
in a quart bowl, of china or earthenware, cover it with 
hot water, and let it stand in a warm place for six hours. 
Sup the tea from the bowl as hot as it can be swallowed. 
But never boil the tea. It must be an infusion, not a 
decoction. Things infused by steeping thus give out 
properties unlike those yielded in boiling. White-walnut 
tea thus infused is bitter, but of a wholesome taste. A 
decoction made by boiling would be acrid enough to turn 
a delicate stomach. 

Saw-Brier for Nerves 

Saw-brier, which is properly field-smilax, has a dozen 
cant names—cat-brier, crawfish-brier, cow-scratch, and 
many more. It grows in almost any abandoned land 
with more or less luxuriance, but delights particularly in 
poor clays or sandy soils, where few other things thrive. 
It has a slender thorny stalk, big waxy leaves, inconspicu¬ 
ous flowers, and small round black berries, with heavy 
blue bloom. The root only is medicinal, though the ber¬ 
ries are said to hold an active poison. The roots spread 
out of all proportion to the upper growth, and form a 
net-work through the ground. They are creeping and 
jointed, of a yellowish colour, with big, woody knops, the 
size of the fist, scattered all along their intricacies. From 
these knops in part, brier-root pipes are carved. In them 
also abides the plant’s virtues. 

For hysteria, faintness, sleeplessness, loss of appetite 





328 Household Economy [Chapter 


_in fact, for almost any condition demanding both a 

nervine and a tonic—take fresh woody knops, wash 
them clean, cut them small, and fill a bottle with them 
up to the neck. Pour in whisky, pure corn whisky, 
enough to cover the cut roots. Give as much of this 
whisky as the patient’s stomach will bear; it may be 
half-a-spoonful or a single swallow at first, and rise 
quickly to a wineglassful three times a day. Saw-brier 
thus administered seems to act directly upon all the 
mucous surfaces, toning them and setting them about 
their proper business. Thus morbid secretions give place 
gradually, therefore safely, to normally healthy ones. 
Few things are more dangerous than to have morbid se¬ 
cretions too suddenly dried up. Such secretions mark 
Nature’s effort to rid the system of poisonous matter. If 
the poison remains to be reabsorbed, it is sure to come 
out again with tenfold its original venom. 

Blackberry-Root—Dewberry Cordial 

Blackberry-root tea has saved many an ailing baby’s 
life; still, it is not so good as cordial made from either 
blackberries or dewberries, combined with the root. 
First wash a peck of fresh roots very clean, and boil them 
in five gallons of water until it is reduced to one gallon. 
Strain, boil up again, and skim well, then add it to the 
strained juice from half-a-bushel of full-ripe berries, 
cooked for ten minutes before straining. Boil the mixt¬ 
ure five minutes, and skim it very clean. The cooking 
must be all done in brass, or block-tin, or agate-ware. 
After the skimming put in five pounds of cut-loaf sugar, 
an ounce of whole alspice, as much race-ginger, and a 
handful of carraway seed. Boil fifteen minutes longer, 
stirring and skimming well. Take from the fire, add 
good corn whisky, in the proportion of one quart to two 
quarts of juice, and let cool. When cold, strain out the 






3 2 9 


Seventeen] Realms ^tmples 


spent spices, bottle, and seal. The older this cordial is, 
the better. It is not only almost a specific cure for 
bowel troubles, but an effectual preventive. A teaspoon¬ 
ful to a tablespoonful in a glass of water, taken the first 
thing upon rising, will take one safe through a sickly 
summer, even in an unhealthy locality. 

Chamomile for the Complexion 

Chamomile (Anthemis Nobilis) is so well recognised in 
Materia Medica, it is grown upon a commercial scale in 
several places, notably round about the pretty English 
village of Hitchin. Cultivators there, indeed, have de¬ 
veloped a variety with flowers as double as the double 
China aster. Medicinally, however, the double flowers 
are no more potent than the ordinary single-rayed yellow¬ 
eyed sort found in so many old gardens. Chamomile 
shares with the walnut and the damson the curious prop¬ 
erty of thriving best where trodden. Hence the proverb, 
older than Shakespeare: “ Tough as chamomile—the 
more you tread it, the more you spread it.” Tradition 
avouches that another name, “ The Rebel Flower,” was 
given the plant during the American Revolution. A 
British officer, walking through a garden beside his 
patriotic hostess, asked the plant’s name, and was told ' 
“ The Rebel Flower—because the harder it is trodden, 
the more it spreads.” 

All this, however, has nothing to do with the plant’s 
uses and properties. Leaves, stalks, and blossoms, are 
all medicinal, but, as a complexion specific, use the blooms 
alone. Pick them as soon as open, just as the dew dries 
off, spread thin upon a clean sheet, and dry in the shade. 
Put away in paper-bags hung where it is dry and airy. 
Use for headache, languor, lassitude, muddy skin, and 
slightly fetid breath. Take a handful of the dry flowers, 
put them in a china bowl, and cover with a pint of boil- 



33 ° 


Household Economy [Chapter 


ing water. Throw a cloth over the bowl, and let it stand 
in a warm place for two or three hours. Let the patient, 
when ready for bed, sip the tea very hot. This should 
be done three nights in succession. It stimulates all the 
excretory glands, and especially those of the skin, gently 
but thoroughly, making the complexion velvet-soft, and 
of a fresh wholesome colour. It also gives lustre to the 
eyes; this, of course, where there is no serious disease. 
If there is weakness and emaciation, as after fevers, colds, 
or especially grip, with pronounced sallowness and hot, 
dry hands, boil dandelion-root to a strong decoction and 
mix it with the chamomile tea, fortify the mixture with 
half its own bulk of whisky, and give a wineglassful three 
times a day before meals. 

Another chamomile bitter, better suited to some con¬ 
stitutions, is made by infusing equal quantities of thyme, 
chamomile flowers, dandelion-root, and spice-wood bark, 
in warm water for twenty-four hours, then adding the 
strained liquid to double as much whisky. Give a table¬ 
spoonful at a time twice a day—upon rising and just be¬ 
fore going to bed. Children require teaspoonful doses, 
and those under five years old, half that quantity. 

Wild-Cherry—Bark and Fruit 

The wild-cherry flavour is a princess among bitters. 
Notwithstanding it is a true bitter, but clean and refresh¬ 
ing, with a delightful after-tang. Use the inner bark cut 
in midsummer if possible. Next to midsummer come 
the dead winter months—December and January. Pre¬ 
pared wild-cherry bark may be bought of almost any 
herbal druggist, but, where trees are accessible, it is bet¬ 
ter to provide one’s own supply, as thus its freshness may 
be insured. Still, the bark keeps excellently, holding 
strength several years, if it is put in a dry place away from 
the light. In passing, it may be worth while to say that 



Seventeen] dealing ^tmples 331 


all sorts of herbs lose strength by standing or lying long 
in strong light; possibly through the action of the chem¬ 
ical or actinic rays. 

For insomnia, with loss of appetite, try cherry-bark 
water. It is the simplest remedy in the world, yet often 
as effectual as simple. Put a tablespoonful of bark 
broken fine, or two or three good-sized strips of it in a 
tumbler, fill the tumbler with pure cold water—cistern 
water if possible—let stand until the water is well col¬ 
oured, then drink at a draught. Refill the glass, let stand 
several hours longer, drink, and refill a second time. Af¬ 
ter drinking the third filling—it had better be done upon 
going to bed—throw away the bark, and put in fresh, 
setting it to steep, well-covered, until morning. Do not 
let it stand in a sleeping-room. Drink off the bark-water 
before breakfast. Keep drinking for a week or a fort¬ 
night. After six weeks, unless the health is fully re¬ 
established, stop the bark-water for a week, then begin 
again. Its action is very gradual, but in seven cases out 
of ten it will soothe frayed nerves and tone weakened 
stomachs. 

For a cough, hoarse or hacking, which hangs on per¬ 
sistently, try wild-cherry and rock-candy. Pour a quart 
of cold water upon as much finely shredded bark as it will 
cover, and set for two days in a cool place. Strain off 
the liquid, which should be a deep wine-brown, pour it 
upon two pounds of white rock-candy, and set in a water- 
bath for six hours. The water must simmer rather than 
boil. Let the bark-water and candy stand open, so they 
may be slightly reduced. Shake them occasionally to 
help in dissolving the candy. When it is all dissolved, 
strain the syrup, add to it the clear juice of two lemons 
and a quart of good corn whisky. Corn whisky is es¬ 
pecially required, as it lacks the fiery taste of rye whisky, 
which, by irritating a delicate stomach, may set up sym¬ 
pathetic coughing. Bottle the syrup in small bottles, and 



332 


Household Economy [Chapter 


take in doses from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful upon 
rising, going to bed, and in between whenever the cough 
is troublesome. 

Wild-cherry bounce is made thus: Gather the ripe cher¬ 
ries, pick, and wash clean, and to each measured quart 
put two pounds of lump-sugar and a gallon of pure corn 
whisky. Pack down fruit and sugar together in a wide¬ 
mouthed vessel, pour the whisky over them, tie a cloth 
over the vessel-mouth—something sleazy, like cheese¬ 
cloth or burlaps—and let stand in a fairly warm place for 
six weeks. Then close the vessel tight, and set away. 
The liquor fattens and fines by standing on the fruit. It 
improves wonderfully with age, both in flavour and 
curative properties. If spiced flavours are approved, as 
where the bounce is to serve as a liquor, strew whole 
alspice, cloves, and blades of mace, in among the fruit 
and sugar, also a race or two of ginger. A teaspoonful 
of cherry bounce, especially old cherry bounce, in a table¬ 
spoonful of water is an excellent stomachic, also a nervine. 
The bounce neat, in thimblefuls after dinner, helps won¬ 
derfully in the digestion of a full meal. 


Bergamot and Balm 

Bergamot and balm are both garden herbs, and strongly 
sudorific; that is to say, sweat-provoking. The balm, 
known otherwise as “ Texas Sage,” is a rough-leafed 
plant, with streaks and blotches of white all over its 
foliage. Bergamot, with an odour faintly reminiscent of 
true bergamot, has the same habit of growth as the balm, 
but is much darker; the stalks and under sides of the 
leaves are, indeed, a dull, dark wine-red. Both plants 
grow luxuriantly,-and spread by sending out runners 
much after the fashion of a strawberry. Unchecked they 
will take the border they grow in, and, if dug up and cast 




Seventeen] Healing pimples 


333 


away, often root themselves in gullies or fence-corners, 
and flourish there, sublimely indifferent to their sur¬ 
roundings. 

For malaria, and particularly its after-effects—as sal¬ 
lowness, weakness, severely painful joints and muscles— 
a good balm-sweat may work wonders. At least half-a- 
bushel of the fresh plant is needed for it; a bushel is all 
the better. Spread a rubber blanket over a mattress, put 
a sheet on top of it, and let the patient lie there while the 
balm is packed all over and around him. In case of ten¬ 
der skin, or abrasions or bed-sores, put a very soft thin 
cloth on before applying the balm. It must be taken by 
handfuls dipped for half-a-minute in boiling water, 
drained, and packed close over and around the affected 
parts; also at the soles of the feet, the small of the back, 
and especially over and around the region of the liver. 
Work quickly, keeping the patient covered fully all the 
time. When all the balm is on, tuck a dry sheet well 
down over it, then spread on that heavy blankets. Put 
a cold cloth on the head, and give alternate sips of cold 
water and hot herb-tea—as sage-tea, or balm-tea, or 
thyme, or sassafras, or even chamomile. Keep draughts 
from the bed, and leave the patient undisturbed until the 
wet balm begins to feel cold to him, then whip it all off, 
lay him on a dry sheet or blanket, and sponge him well 
all over with warm alcohol. He should stay in bed for 
six hours afterward, eating nothing, but drinking all he 
chooses. If he sleeps, as he commonly will, he is likely 
to wake minus pains, and plus an unwonted appetite. 

Bergamot can be used the same way, but is not so good 
as balm, in that when wilted it has a rather rank smell. 
But wisps of it dry are good to keep away moths. Fur¬ 
ther, tender leaves of bergamot and balm, picked free of 
the stalks, and stewed slowly in very thick sweet cream 
for twelve hours, make a most excellent unguent for all 
sorts of angry and inflamed sores. If the sores are old 




334 


Household Economy [Chaptei 


and cankerous, pick very tender wood sorrel-leaves, and 
stew them up with the balm and bergamot, and also add 
to the mass some very thick slippery elm-ooze. The salve 
is best made in June, when all the vegetable ingredients 
are at their prime, and the cream has, further, a healing 
quality, derived perhaps from the lush new grass. Keep 
the salve in little glass or china pots, closely covered, and 
apply on old linen or soft white silk. 

Sleeping Potions 

Where sleeplessness is rooted in nervous trouble, any 
doctor knows enough to say gentian is the thing for it. 
The blue closed gentian—New England’s “ dumb fox¬ 
glove ”—is better than the open sort. Since it is best 
gathered in flower, and does not flower until October, the 
root has to be dried over a very slow fire. Dig up the 
whole plant, though only the root has virtue, and let the 
clump wilt thoroughly before wringing off the tops. Sep¬ 
arate the roots gently, wash very clean, and spread thin 
upon a board, which should be hung above the fire. 
When fully dry, wrap in thick paper, put the paper in a 
bag, and hang where it is dry and airy. To make bitters, 
slice the gentian-root very thin, and put into whisky in 
proportion of two tablespoonfuls of sliced root to the 
quart. Take a sip at morning just before breakfast, and 
a good full swallow upon going to bed. 

The sleeplessness of convalescence—as after wasting 
fevers, especially lung fevers, or that from mal-nutrition 
or extreme debility—requires something more tonic than 
gentian. To make it, get May apple-root—Shake¬ 
speare’s mandragora—dandelion-root, and hops. Both 
the roots should be pulled up in early June, when the 
plants are in flowering and fruiting strength. Dry them 
in the shade after washing very clean. For a bitter, steep 
a handful of each root separately in a pint of boiling 





Seventeen] Healing dimples 


335 


water for twelve hours. Pour another pint of hot water 
upon a teacupful of hops, and let it stand the same length 
of time. Strain the three liquids, mix, and add one pint 
of whisky, made aromatic with nutmeg and orange-peel. 
Give a tablespoonful at a time before or after meals, as 
the stomach takes it best, with another spoonful upon 
going to bed. 

Sometimes a hop pillow brings sleep after all else has 
failed. It may further be supplemented with the hop 
foot-bath. For the pillow put a gallon of dry hops in a 
double cheese-cloth bag, big enough to hold them loosely. 
Just before going to bed, heat the pillow very hot, then 
slip it inside a cool fresh cover, and lay on top the feather- 
pillows. For the foot-bath, tie a quart of hops loosely 
in a square of cheese-cloth, throw them in a foot-tub, and 
pour on enough boiling water to half-fill the tub. Hold 
the feet in the steam until the water is cool enough for 
bathing, then soak for ten minutes, rubbing well with the 
hop-bag. Drink a little cold water, and keep well 
wrapped while bathing the feet. Rub them hard for at 
least a minute after drying them, and go straight to bed. 

For Green Wounds 

The velvety yellow marigold—Chaucer’s “ Marye- 
budde that shutteth up his eye ”—makes the finest heal¬ 
ing lotion for cuts, bruises, strains; indeed, all manner of 
hurts. Cut off the flowers, freshly opened, just below 
the calyx, cram a wide-mouthed bottle full of them, cover 
with whisky, and set in a dark place. Pour the liquid, 
neat, upon a cut or snag. It heals both man and beast, 
and, contrary to expectation, eases rather than hurts. 
For a bruise or strain, wet a soft bandage in the lotion, 
and apply, with a dry bandage outside. In three hours 
or so, pour on more of the lotion; in fact, the bandage 
should be kept moist with it for thirty-six hours. It 




336 Household Economy [Chapter 


keeps down swelling and inflammation, and, further, 
largely prevents discoloration. 

The ripe fruit of the balsam cucumber, treated the 
same as marigold flowers, makes a lotion of much the 
same properties, but, if anything, more soothing. Black- 
&nake-root (Cimifuga Racemosa), known familiarly as 
rattle-weed, made into a tincture, is better than arnica 
for hurts of every sort. Dig the roots in June, when the 
tall white blossom-spikes are open half-way up, wash 
clean, dry in the shade, and keep dark. Slice the dry root 
thin, or break it small, and cover with either whisky or 
alcohol. Let stand a week in a warmish place before 
using. This is among the things which should be kept 
constantly on hand, labelled distinctly, but ready for in¬ 
stant use. The same may be said of both the other lo¬ 
tions, which will heal any hurt if given half a chance. 

Yarrow (Achillia Millefolium ), otherwise wild-carrot, 
and known in France as “ the herb of the carpenters/’ 
is another thing good for cuts, especially those that bleed 
freely. It has strong styptic properties; hence is useful 
for nose-bleed. Pound the green leaves to a paste, and 
apply directly to the cut, binding in place rather tightly 
until the flow of blood is checked. Then slack the 
bandage, but do not take off the yarrow for six hours. 
For nose-bleed, make pledgelets of the beaten leaves, and 
force them gently up the nostrils, holding the head up 
the while. 

Willow tea, made from the bark of Salix Alba , is a 
good wash for festering or cankered wounds and sores, 
especially those grown sluggish. Take the soft inner 
bark, and boil in rain-water or distilled water for an hour. 
Boil in block-tin, or agate-ware, so as to avoid canker. 
Wash the sores with the tea about blood-warm twice a 
day. Since prevention is ever so much better than cure, 
treat wounds and ulcers, if other things are out of reach, 
with a strong elder-wash, made from either the flowers 



Seventeen] dealing dimples 


337 


or the bark and leaves of the common elder— Sambucus. 
Put on flowers or leaves in something non-cankerable, 
cover plentifully with cold water, bring to a boil, skim, 
and simmer half-an-hour. Strain, and use blood-warm; 
that is to say, at ninety-eight degrees. The wash is 
slightly astringent, and wonderfully antiseptic. Make it 
fresh every day, and heat what stands over from one wash¬ 
ing to another well toward boiling before using it. 

Vermifuges 

Seed from the every-day pumpkin, sacred in the popu¬ 
lar mind to Thanksgiving, are among the best remedies 
for tape-worm. Wash the seed from a thoroughly ripe 
pumpkin free of all pulp, and dry in gentle heat. Make 
tea of them by boiling a teacupful in a gallon of water 
until reduced one-half. Give in the morning upon an 
empty stomach, and let the patient fast for at least four 
hours. The tea may produce nausea, but it will do no 
harm. If the nausea is pronounced enough to weaken 
the patient greatly, give the tea only one morning in three. 
Otherwise give it for three consecutive mornings, then 
skip two, and begin again. Perseverance through six 
weeks will commonly effect a cure, or, at the least, sensibly 
mitigate discomfort. 

Another vermifuge is the root of the so-called “ male 
fern,” which produces no spores. Only an accomplished 
herbalist rightly knows the male fern from the perfect 
one, but, if it can be found, the root makes a tea excellent 
for worms. Dig in May, wash and dry, and, when 
wanted, slice and steep for some hours in hot water. 
Give a tumblerful at night, and another upon rising. But 
neither the pumpkin-seed nor the fern-root is so helpful 
in many cases as wormwood (Artemisia Absinthum), 
which is an aromatic tonic as well as vermifuge. Both 
leaves and stalks are as potent as the flowers. Gather 




338 


Household Economy [Chapter 


while in flower, dry, keep dark, and brew tea by steeping 
—not boiling. Make it so strong a wineglassful will be 
a dose. Treat Indian pink-root in much the same fashion. 
Botanically it is Spygelia Marilandica. It grows wild in 
rich shady woods, flowering in late May or early June. 
Dig the plants whole, and let the tops wilt before cutting 
them away. Wash and dry the root, which is an active 
and excellent cathartic as well as vermifuge. 


For Sore Mouths and Disordered 

Stomachs 

A disordered stomach means commonly a torpid liver. 
Taraxacum Officinalis, the common dandelion, is a liver 
specific. Use the root either alone, in tea or tincture, or 
combined with hops, or with dogwood and wild-cherry 
bark, or yellow poplar bark. Either mixture will com¬ 
monly set things to rights. But, if there is fever and sore 
mouth, use instead yellow puccoon (Hydrastis Canaden¬ 
sis), which grows wild in rich shady woods from Canada 
southward. Aside from its medical virtues, it has the 
curious property of dyeing linen a bright yellow, though 
it scarcely stains either cotton, or silk, or wool. The 
Indians used it in dyeing their finest baskets, as they like¬ 
wise got red from the root of the dogwood (Cornus 
Florida). Good yellow puccoon-root is fine and fringy, 
of a bright golden-yellow, and, when fresh-dug, a bitter 
—almost acrid—smell. It grows delightfully fragrant 
by keeping a few months. If the smell is lacking, reject 
the root; it is inert from long lying. It can be either 
chewed or made into tea, brewing it fresh as needed. It 
is intensely bitter, but, medicinally, tonic, alterative, lax¬ 
ative, and diuretic; hence especially indicated for a 
clogged and sluggish system. If there are pains all 
about, and rheumatic indications along with the sore 



Seventeen] flealtttg Samples 


339 


mouth, make a bitter of the yellow puccoon and black- 
snake-root. Infuse a handful of each for three days in 
cold water, then strain, mix, and add an equal quantity 
of whisky. Give a wineglassful as often as the stomach 
will bear. 

Calamus-root (Acorns Calamus), sweet flag, is a good 
thing for mild dyspepsia, being lightly tonic, laxative, 
and stomachic. It clears the voice, and is further useful 
as a flavouring for bitters less agreeable. Thus it can be 
gnawed from the lump a little at a time, when more 
powerful medicines would turn the stomach. Queen’s 
Delight (Stillingia), for example, though a fine alterative 
cathartic, is also an emetic, hence must be administered 
with the utmost caution. 

Bone-set, or thoroughwort, botanically Eupatorium Per- 
foliatum, got its common name from curing “ break-bone 
fever,” the most dreaded disease of pioneer days. It is 
an excellent bitter for all sorts of catarrh, especially 
catarrh of the stomach. Both lavender and valerian re¬ 
lieve stomach troubles with nervous complications. Both 
can be used as either tea or tincture, but can be so easily 
bought perfectly prepared, it is best to depend on the 
druggist. 

Colic, Diarrhoea, and Dysentery 

Tea made of persimmon bark is both astringent and 
cooling. But it is not so effectual as oak-bark water. 
Take the fine inner bark of either red or white oak, the 
fresher the better, infuse it in cold water three hours, and 
drink freely. This will check any ordinary diarrhoea. 
White walnut and wild-cherry have been already named. 
Fresh grape-leaf tea is a mild and safe astringent. Car- 
raway seed in tincture ease colic pains. So does mild 
red-pepper tea, especially if supplemented with a pepper 
poultice over the stomach. 




340 


Household Economy [Chapter 


For Coughs, Croup, and Convulsions 

Lobelia (Indian tobacco), a quick and safe emetic, also 
an excellent expectorant, is handy to have about where 
there are children. With red puccoon (Sanguinaria 
Canadensis ), it is especially useful in cases of croup. As 
red puccoon is, further, a good laxative and expectorant, 
it comes in well for all sorts of feverish cold. It is a 
curious-looking plant with compound three-lobed leaves, 
dark green, richly mottled with red. Where the leaves 
join, there is a dull red upstanding flower which country 
children call Jack-in-the-Pulpit. In the fall this flower 
is succeeded by a cone-shaped clump of brilliant scarlet 
berries, only less gorgeous than the berries of Indian 
turnip. 

Indian turnip is an excellent remedy for colds, especially 
those with an obstinate tendency toward the lungs. Bulbs 
fresh from the earth are best, but dry ones will answer 
by soaking. If the case is urgent, scrape the root, and 
swallow a pill of it; it is hotter than fire, but healing. 
Make either syrup or candy by boiling the roots to a 
strong tea, and adding sugar—maple-sugar if possible. 
If it is left as syrup, put whisky or brandy well burned 
into it, one-third spirits to two-thirds syrup. 

Elecampane and cumfrey, both well-known garden- 
herbs, make another fine cough-syrup. More properly 
it is a cough-jelly; the fresh roots are pounded with their 
own bulk of loaf-sugar and good burnt brandy mixed 
well through the mass. Put one spoonful of brandy to 
three of the mixture, stir well, and keep closely covered. 
Make in small quantities, as it is better when moderately 
fresh. 

Rue makes a tea almost specific for infantile convul¬ 
sions. Dried leaves are as good as green, hence should 
be kept on hand. Pure indigo is another thing good for 
convulsions; it is so quick and safe an emetic. But it is 




Seventeen] dealing pimples 


34i 


unwise to use ordinary commercial indigo, since it is 
largely subject to adulterations. 

For Gout 

Gout, which has at least a thousand manifestations, 
has also palliatives, some of them even reaching the dig¬ 
nity of cures. Cure is largely a matter of constitutional 
idiosyncrasy, which can only be determined by experi¬ 
ment. Some sorts of gout are helped by buttermilk. 
Drink a quart of it, freshly churned and wholesome, every 
twenty-four hours. Three quarts will be better, capacity 
permitting. Eat, while drinking buttermilk thus medic¬ 
inally, no raised bread, pastry, salt meats, sweets, nor 
highly spiced dishes, and drink no wine. If any stimu¬ 
lant is needed, let it be the very best whisky taken in dis¬ 
tilled water, half and half, and that as sparingly as pos¬ 
sible. Eat white meat, eggs, green vegetables, and either 
corn bread, or graham crackers, or whole-wheat bread, 
or very good soda-biscuit. Nothing heavy should go into 
the stomach. Thus the lactic acid of the milk gets its 
chance to work. It enters the blood, and helps to dis¬ 
solve earthy deposits. Then, by stimulating all the ex- 
cretories, it enables the system to throw off poisonous 
waste. 

Very painful gouty joints may be helped by burning 
thus with turpentine: Cover the joint with soft old flan¬ 
nel, wet the flannel well with turpentine, lay a folded cloth 
over it, and iron with a hot iron as long as it can be borne. 
The heat vaporises the turpentine, and drives it into the 
skin. The resulting burns, though painful, have a health¬ 
ful counter irritant effect. For a lame back or shoulder, 
try a rosin plaster. Melt the rosin with half as much 
lard, and spread while hot on soft thin leather. Warm 
and apply over the sore joints. It will stick very tight, 
and should be left to wear off. A clay poultice—either 




342 


Household Economy 


very fine red clay or well-burned yellow clay—helps sore 
knees, ankles, and wrists. Pulverise and sift the clay, 
then wet to soft mud with strong apple-vinegar, and lay 
on an inch thick, binding it in place with soft old linen. 
Leave on until dry. Repeat the poulticing every night 
for a week, then skip three days. For a gouty foot, fill 
a stout sock, very much too big, with the wet clay, and 
thrust the foot down in it. If gout attacks the finger- 
joints, enlarging them very much, the lead bandage may 
give some relief. Beat out a bullet flat and thin, then 
bend it around the enlarged joint, lapping one end over 
the other. Keep in place with a stall, and, as the swell¬ 
ing underneath goes down, gently hammer the lead 
smaller, lapping the ends more and more. Hop poul¬ 
tices will relieve racking gouty pains. Half-fill a thin 
bag with hops, drop it in boiling water, wring out, pro¬ 
tecting the hands with a folded towel, and lay upon a 
folded flannel over the painful spot. Cover with another 
flannel, and leave in place till cold. The same hops may 
be reheated a dozen times. 

Grape sap, caught in a wooden vessel, and drunk in¬ 
stead of water, is another gout cure more or less effica¬ 
cious according to constitution. A healthy vine, prefer¬ 
ably a wild vine, should be chosen, and notched in deep 
rather than cut off. In the spring such a vine will drip 
more sap than the thirstiest patient can drink. It is said 
to have even greater solvent powers than buttermilk; 
hence its value. 



Chapter EIGHTEEN 

%\)t jfamtlp Vetoing, $)latn 

J^etotng 

P LAIN sewing threatens to become a lost art; 

very much more’s the pity. Perfect needle- 
craft is a liberal education to the eye, the fingers, 
and the sense of proportion. Moreover, there 
are few things a house-mother may practise to 
more profit, either artistically or financially. 

Practically there are but four seams, though in execu¬ 
tion they may be almost infinitely varied. First comes 
the over-seam. Commonly it joins selvages, or else 
hemmed edges with inset ribbon or lace. This is also 
the carpet-stitch. Carpet-sewing, of course, means a big 
needle and the very stoutest flax-thread, double and well 
waxed. Match the figures ahead of the needle, and make 
them fit, even though the fitting demands a slight puck¬ 
ering. Take shallow hold, never more than a quarter- 
inch, setting the needle in the farther side, and thrusting 
it well through before attempting to pull it out. Make 
regular stitches, and be careful not to draw one tight 
enough to crease the selvage, yet leave the next loose 
enough to stand slack upon top of it. That makes a 
zigzag wabbly seam, which causes puckers, wrinkles, and 
wear of the laid carpet. 

For anything else than carpet, use rather a fine needle, 
and thread proportionate. Thus the work is much 
easier; the resultant seam much neater. Pin the edges 

343 


344 


Household Economy [Chapter 


together six inches ahead; this insures against holding 
one fuller than the other. Take neat short stitches of even 
depth, and as shallow as will hold. After a seam is fin¬ 
ished, separate the parts, and smooth the join hard upon 
the wrong side with the end of the thimble. The shorter 
and more regular the stitches, the daintier the joining. 
It is especially useful for infants’ skirts—indeed, for all 
infantile belongings—for bed and table furnishings, and 
for very fine night-clothes and underwear. 

Felled seams are first sewed with the back edge stand¬ 
ing higher than the front one; then the standing edge is 
folded under, hem-fashion, and whipped down to the body 
of the garment. Machine-felling is possible to an expert 
operator, but is nothing like so desirable as hand-felling. 
The first sewing up may, however, be done on the ma¬ 
chine. Trim away all rough edges and ravelled threads 
before beginning to fell, and, as in over-seam, use fine 
needles rather than coarse ones. 

A simple raw seam is either stitched or run, keeping 
the edges even, and not holding one in to the other. 
Stitched seams are sometimes opened flat and kept flat 
with lines of herring-bone stitches. This is a good finish 
for the seams of boys’ summer-trousers, as it strengthens 
the join, yet leaves it elastic. Run seams with selvages 
need no other finish. With raw edges it is wise to whip 
them sparsely from top to bottom. 

For underwear and white goods generally, the bag 
seam is recommendable. To make it, first sew a very 
narrow seam to stand up on the right side, then turn the 
garment, fold it evenly along the first seam, and stitch 
a second line the eighth of an inch from the edge. This 
comes next to felling, and is often preferable, in that all 
the work can be done on the machine. Still, upon very 
fine textures, and particularly with sloped or rounded 
edges, it is best to run the first seam, taking short, very 
even, stitches. Excellence in any kind of running means 




Eighteen] Ci )t jfanttlp §>etotng 


345 


keeping the thread straight, so as to make a seam of even 
depth, and having the stitches the same length, not alter¬ 
nately short and long. The length should be propor¬ 
tioned to the fabric sewed. Take up four to eight threads 
of it, and skip as many. Counting would be a tedious 
waste of time. Count for the first stitch, and use that 
as a pattern. 

Hems are of three sorts—rolled hems, flat linen hems, 
and the ornamental hem-stitched ones. A ruffle, a towel, 
napkin, sheet, or anything similar, ought to be torn or 
preferably cut by a thread. This, of course, does not 
apply to bias frills of silk or stuff. Fine ruffles of lawn, 
linen cambric, or mull, should have a thread drawn, and 
be cut with very sharp scissors. Over-seam the breadths 
as neatly as possible, then begin at one end and make a 
tiny roll at the upper edge, manipulating the cloth be¬ 
twixt the right finger and thumb. With the very finest 
needle, and No. ioo thread, sew down the little roll with 
even, very short stitches. If the hem is to be trimmed, 
as with narrow edging, tatting, or beading, it makes the 
trimming more effective to herring-bone it to the roll 
instead of sewing the roll down. Fasten the thread 
firmly to the rolled edge of the ruffle, then pass the needle 
through the trimming, draw the thread after it, but leave 
the roll and the trimming-edge a twentieth-of-an-inch 
apart. Now fasten the thread in the trimming with a 
tight button-hole stitch. Hold the two edges evenly apart 
with the left thumb and forefinger, and join them with 
herring-bone stitches, setting the needle upon the cloth 
side well within the roll. To herring-bone, simply throw 
the thread from the needle forward, so the point comes 
up behind the thread drawn down. 

A linen hem has the raw edge turned down first, then 
the hem proper, and is creased a third time even with 
the edge of the hem. By sewing through the two edges, 
as in over-seam, it is possible to take very neat stitches 




346 Household Economy [Chapter 


without pricking the fingers in the least. If hem-stitch 
is undertaken, threads should be drawn not merely for 
cutting, but for both creases. After the hem is creased 
the right depth, draw three or five threads exactly even 
with it. Begin at one end, gather up three threads in 
the drawn space, let the needle-point come out over the 
thread which is held forward, then pass it up into- the 
loose edge of the hem. Draw it down tight, and repeat 
all the way, taking care never to vary the number of 
threads in the knots. 

Button-Holes 

A button-hole is a sort of sewing shibboleth. Many 
seamstresses bungle them horribly. Hence the vogue of 
machine-worked button-holes, which are, however, at 
their very best inferior to good hand-work. Good twist, 
which will neither fray nor kink, is essential to good 
button-holes. So is clean cutting. A ragged, chewed 
edge can never be made to look well. Mark the button¬ 
hole spaces accurately with chalk—not only the distance 
apart, but the size. Where choice is possible, cut them 
to run straight with the threads, either warp or woof, 
or else on a true bias. Use twist that is fine rather than 
coarse, and a needle that carries the thread easily, so there 
shall be no pulling. Begin at the back, fasten the thread 
firmly, pass it directly along the cut edge to the other 
end, take a very short stitch there, and carry it back to 
the beginning, letting it lie along the other cut edge. 
Now take the button-hole firmly between the left thumb 
and finger, holding it so a cut edge projects say a quarter- 
inch. Stick the needle through this edge point inward, 
then take up the thread just behind the eye, and lay it 
lightly around the point. Draw out the needle, and 
tighten the stitch so the looped thread covers the cut 
edge. Repeat, keeping the stitches all the same depth 




Eightteen] %\)t jfamtlp Vetoing 


347 


until the other end is reached. There, if the garment is 
a coat or jacket, set the stitches round in eyelet fashion. 
For any other garment, let them end square, turn the 
work, and begin afresh on the other side. Button-holes 
likely to have heavy wear are better if a double flax-thread 
is laid along the edge and around the corner, so as to 
be worked over. But, whatever is done, deft-handedness 
is the real essential. A button-hole once bungled is a 
button-hole forever spoiled. 

A Sewing-Room 

Every home needs a sewing-room, permanent, if pos¬ 
sible, but at any rate throughout the stress of spring and 
fall work. Even to the woman who does her own sew¬ 
ing, it is a boon beyond calculation. Until it is tried, 
one has no idea what comfort lies in having things right 
at hand when needed, nor in knowing that they will stay 
there until all need is past. 

A spacious airy place is, of course, much the best. 
Failing that, a small room is better than none at all. A 
north light is preferable; it gives the longest daylight 
and the least strain on the eyes. With a small room, 
take out all the furniture not actually required, and fill 
its place with sewing requisites. 

They are neither many nor costly. The first is a sheet 
of unbleached muslin, big enough to cover the whole floor. 
Sew the seams firmly, hem the ends, and fasten it down 
with drugget-pins in each corner. Set the sewing-ma¬ 
chine in the handiest place where a good light will fall 
over the operator’s shoulder. See that the chair for it 
is the right height, also that it is light and free of ob¬ 
trusive angles and knobs. A bent-wood chair is on many 
accounts the best. If it is too high for comfort, have 
the legs sawed off. 

Always clean a machine thoroughly before beginning 



348 


Household Economy [Chapter 


a sewing campaign. The first thing is to deluge every 
working part with kerosene, and leave it several hours. 
Then wipe off the kerosene with a clean flannel, rubbing 
hard if gummed oil remains. Wet the treadle-joints 
again with kerosene. If the upper works still show dirt 
and grime, and particularly if they run hard, take them 
off and boil them twenty minutes with a handful of wash¬ 
ing-soda in the water. Rinse by pouring boiling water 
over, under, and through them; it is best done from the 
spout of a tea-kettle. After rinsing set in a hot place 
for half-an-hour. Next put the works in place, oil plenti¬ 
fully with the very best machine-oil, run at top speed a 
minute, then wipe off superfluous oil, tighten up nuts and 
screws, see that the feed is unclogged, and that the 
presser-foot stands true; also that the needle is properly 
set, and the machine is ready for use. 

Fasten to the wall, back of the machine or beside it, a 
set of hanging pockets, at least a dozen in number. Mark 
each plainly with the sort of thread it is meant to hold, 
as “ Black" Silk, No. A,” or “ White Cotton, No. 60.” 
At bottom of the pockets hang a book of flannel leaves 
numbered from one to ten, and holding needles of sizes to 
match their numbers. Another set of marked pockets, for 
bindings, stay-casing, buttons, hooks and eyes, crayons, 
chalk, basting-cotton, and so on, should be put up on the 
wall where it can be reached from the low sewing-chair 
provided for hand-work. If the low chair has rockers, 
all the better; only they must not be aggressive. Each 
set of pockets can be backed with a square of denim. 
Sew small brass rings to the corners to slip over screw- 
hooks in the walls. Thus they can be put up without 
defacement. In a permanent sewing-room it is helpful 
to tack up on the wall the plates after which the garments 
of the moment are to be fashioned. 

Two more bent-wood chairs, a folding cutting-table, 
a low dresser with big mirror and broad shallow drawers, 



Eighteen] Cl )t jfamtlp Vetoing 349 


should also find place in the sewing-room. Set apart one 
drawer for linings and findings of all sorts, as crinoline, 
whalebone, wadding, and canvas. Keep another drawer 
for uncut stuffs, and a third for unfinished work. A big¬ 
ger table with drawers and folding-leaves, for cutting 
big things like skirts, is a very present help, space per¬ 
mitting. In the table-drawers keep shears, small scis¬ 
sors, a whet-stone, several tape-measures, and at least 
half-a-dozen thimbles. Thimbles seem endowed with a 
certain malign intelligence, and lose themselves past find¬ 
ing if their loss stops work. If it is, through plentiful 
substitutes, a matter of no consequence, they discover 
themselves upon the least provocation. Set this big 
table against the wall if possible, and just above it swing 
a broad flat pocket sacred to patterns. Fold each pattern 
flat, and keep it in a separate big envelope plainly marked 
with sort and size. Always press a pattern smooth with 
a warm, not a hot, iron before using it. If a hot iron 
must be used, let the pattern lie a while, so it will not 
cling and curl troublesomely to the hands. 

There should be two smoothing-irons, one heavy, one 
light, with either wooden or asbestos-covered handles. 
An oil-stove is the best thing to heat them with. Properly 
managed, it makes neither smell nor soot. It has the 
great advantage over gas that it can be set wherever it is 
most convenient. A wooden box a foot or so square 
will hold both the stove and the irons. By tacking sheet- 
tin over the top, which must be hinged on, it makes a 
good resting-place for the lighted stove. 

Irons presuppose a press-board, which is an ironing- 
board in miniature, with rounded ends and rounded edges 
over which to shape the most obviously crooked seams. 
Cover the press-board with gray flannel, to be removed 
and washed once a year. In addition, have a white cover, 
cotton or linen, to go over the flannel when dainty colours 
must be pressed. 



350 Household Economy [Chapter 


A lap-board, with a yard-measure marked on the top, 
is a great convenience. Set it up back of the low sewing- 
chair, but in easy reach. From one arm of this chair 
hang a small, compact pin-cushion cram-full of sharp 
clean pins and big-eyed basting-needles. From the other 
suspend a small closed box with a slit cut in the lid, and 
the end of a reel of basting-cotton pulled up through the 
slit. Basting-cotton has even more than the thimble’s 
knack of losing itself. It is a wary seamstress, indeed, 
who gets around both. 

Small things, as yokes, straps, gussets, and so on, have 
the same amiable propensity. The white sheet on the 
floor effectually balks it. Further, it helps the eyes by 
diffusing and prolonging a soft equal light. Incidentally, 
it saves the carpet or the floor from lint, and makes the 
occasional brushing up very much easier. 

There are just two more absolute sewing-room re¬ 
quirements—a covered wicker-basket for scraps, bun¬ 
dles, and general odds-and-ends, and a light but com¬ 
modious waste-basket. A folding clothes-horse, to hold 
work in hand, is desirable. So is a big separate mirror 
that may be turned at any angle, and a form for fitting 
and draping. 

Even where the house-mother does the sewing, it is a 
great waste to skimp in findings or thread; indeed, in 
any small requisite. With a hired seamstress, such waste 
is not only cruel, but wicked. She must be paid for her 
time, and often loses more, piecing and contriving how 
to make five cents' worth answer for ten, than would 
half-finish a garment. This applies with double force to 
making over old garments. If it needs must be done, 
have everything unpicked, sponged, pressed, even dyed, 
before the dressmaker comes. It is well, further, to make 
up one’s mind as one unmakes a frock. Waiting for the 
seamstress to make up both together is generally costly 
and seldom satisfactory. 



Eighteen] Cf)e jfamtlp Vetoing 


351 


As to Patterns 

Patterns have their uses, oftener their abuses. No 
woman should permit herself to depend wholly upon them. 
Certainly never after she has owned and worn out one 
perfectly cut and fitted gown. Patterns are arbitrary, 
not to say absolute, whereas the human form is a varied 
and ever-varying entity. Moreover, figures can and do 
lie amazingly—when they are supposed to indicate pat¬ 
tern sizes. Patterns are cut for the average of measure¬ 
ments, hence are as unindividual as a composite 
photograph. 

Given accurate measurements, a good tailor has before 
him a problem to be worked out mathematically. For 
example, with a waist measure of twenty-six inches, he 
understands that two-and-one-half of those inches must 
go into the back forms, whose combined breadth must 
exactly equal that of the side forms next it. With a 
smaller waist the back forms might be two inches, with 
a larger one, three, with corresponding increase in side- 
form breadth. A thirty-eight or forty inch waist would 
necessitate extra side forms. A very stout figure may 
take five instead of the usual three. Further, these side 
forms must be the same width from waist-line to arm¬ 
hole. The swell of the figure, no matter how redundant, 
is accommodated by the slope of the back forms and the 
fronts. In the fronts the darts must be so set that the 
breadth from the under-arm seam to the first of them 
is just that of a side form. Darts running up to a high 
bust need to be closer together than those taken low. 
When the bodice is fastened, the space from one dart to 
its fellow opposite ought to be just half-an-inch greater 
than the breadth of the two back forms. 

With a well-fitted old frock, rip one-half the waist 
carefully apart, and leave the other half intact. Press 
the ripped parts very smooth, first putting a line of short 




35 2 


Household Economy [Chapter 


white stitches to mark the old seams. Fold the new stuff 
right sides together, and lay it smooth upon a table or 
cutting-board. Arrange the pieces of the old waist upon 
it, taking special pains to have the warp and woof threads 
run the same in new and old. Weight the old bits in 
place, then run a tracing-wheel along the lines of white 
stitches, bearing very hard. Next brush loose chalk 
along the wheel’s track; it will go through and leave a 
line of fine white dots underneath. Take off the pattern 
pieces and cut out, keeping your scissors, which ought to 
be sharp and clean-cutting, an inch outside the line of 
dots. Cut the lining from the outside, but let the warp 
threads run around instead of up and down. In cutting 
from a paper pattern, instead of an old garment, it is well 
to try the pattern first on cheap plaid gingham, placing 
it so, when the pieces are joined, the plaids will run 
straight one with another. Indeed, with a pattern used 
many times over, it pays to paste the pattern on the ging¬ 
ham and cut it out. Unless the warp threads run per¬ 
pendicular, and the woof straight around the waist, a 
tight bodice will pull out of shape and sit awry no matter 
how carefully it is boned. 

Beware of skirts or skirt-patterns with a wide apron, 
very wide hip-gores, or many seams that bring bias edges 
together. Skirts so shaped, either lined or unlined, 
stretch and sag distressingly at the least wear. Always 
stay bias-skirt seams with a straight strip, or tape, or rib¬ 
bon. In choosing skirt-patterns for goods with a nap, as 
cloth or velvet, beware of the so-called circular effect 
which makes the nap run up one side, down the other, and 
crosswise in front. A garment so cut requires either a 
corkscrew or a cyclone to brush it properly. The cyclone 
may develop in the wearer’s spirit after a little experience. 



Eighteen] C |)t jfamtlp §s>etotng 


353 


Fitting, Boning, Hooks and Eyes 

Tailor-finish so-called means sewing up the waist sin¬ 
gle, boning it, and applying a lining after. Or the 
process may be reversed. With a waist cut as directed, 
baste the seams by the dotted lines, sew up, press and 
bone, all but the shoulder-seams and those under the arms. 
In pressing woollen stuff, remember not to wet it; it 
draws enough moisture from the air, and water makes 
it look shiny. Baste the unsewed seams to stand upon 
the right side, try on, and pin up any slack until the fit 
is snug. Then hold the pinned lines firm, and mark them 
with chalk. Take off the garment, unpin it, and put lines 
of basting-stitches in the chalk-marks. Next trim away 
surplus stuff, always leaving a good seam. In basting 
up the shoulder-seams, stretch the upper half of each front 
as much as possible, and hold the back slightly full to it. 
No matter about puckers; they come out for pressing. 
By thus stretching the fronts, the ugly and troublesome 
wrinkles either side the collar are wholly done away with. 
If the lining is fitted instead of the outside, the same end 
is attained by taking a seam the eighth of an inch deep, 
and three inches long in the fronts, letting it begin just 
in front of the shoulder-seam, and extend toward the 
bust. 

Notch all seams well before pressing, but take care the 
notches do not go too close. Lay an extra thickness of 
flannel over the press-board, and never have an iron hot 
enough to give even a smell of scorching. If in haste, 
lay a strip of waste cloth over the seam to shield it from 
an iron too hot. Great heat is, however, inimical; a 
quick-moving iron cannot give the shaping which press¬ 
ing is intended to accomplish. 

Hold stay-casing next to you, and put it on very full, 
leaving several inches free at both upper and lower ends. 
The sewed part should not come nearer than three inches 




354 


Household Economy [Chapter 


to the arm-holes. Soak whalebones until they are soft 
enough to sew through. Push them in from the bottom, 
cover two inches with the free tape, then sew through 
and through bone and casing, push the bone in hard, sew 
again two inches lower down, and again at the waist-line. 
This pushing in makes the bones curve in such fashion 
as to stretch the waist and hold it unwrinkled. 

The great thing about hooks and eyes is to have them 
match accurately. One way of achieving that is to pin 
the edges together, mark them across with chalk at proper 
distances, and take a loose whip-stitch from one mark 
to another. Then pull the edges apart, and clip the 
stitches, leaving an end each side. Another way is to 
snip holes in a strip of cambric, lay it on the wrong side 
of each piece, and brush loose chalk over the holes. Still 
another, perhaps the easiest to a good needle-woman, is 
to sew on hooks as they appear to be needed, then slip an 
eye over each hook, and sew them on to match. 

Applied lining should always stand a little loose, but 
not enough to be clumsy. The seams in them should be 
sewed a trifle larger than those in the outside, and all 
allowance made at the edges. Silk-waist linings, so long 
the hall-mark of fine frocks, are in a measure out of vogue, 
as they do not stand wear and perspiration to match the 
firmer linens and cottons. It is well to baste together 
the seam-edges of linings and outside at the shoulders. 
At neck and waist the two, of course, are faced together. 

In making up a lined bodice, lay the gown stuff right 
side down upon the lap-board, put the lining over it, and 
join the two by a perfectly straight line of basting where 
the waist is to be. Push the lining faintly full toward 
this basting both above and below, and baste two more 
lines each about half-an-inch from the first. Then baste 
together all the way. After all the pieces are lined thus, 
baste up the seams, and fit as in tailor-making. 



Eighteen] Ci)e jfamtlp §j>etomg 


355 


Skirts 

With a new skirt-pattern, especially if it is to be made 
up in costly stuff, it is well to cut and fit the lining first. 
If there is no lining, shape the skirt in cheap lawn or 
paper muslin, and fit it accurately before putting scissors 
in the frock proper. Try on the false skirt. If it hangs 
loose at bottom in front, the apron is too flaring, and must 
be narrowed. If it bulges over the stomach upon sitting 
down, there is need of more fullness there, which is best 
gained by taking in the seams either side and enlarging 
the hip-darts. A skirt that binds at the foot in front is 
too straight. Have another person rip and snip and pinch 
about the trial skirt until the wearer, standing before the 
mirror, is satisfied with the hang of it. 

Thin frocks are best made with a drop-skirt; that is 
to say, a lining shaped to themselves, yet loose except at 
the belt. Linings of all sorts are better made separate 
and put inside the skirt. If stiffening is needed, cut it 
on a true bias, and stitch it firmly to the skirt-lining. Put 
lining and skirt even at the top, seam on seam, baste the 
seam-edges together half-a-yard down, fasten the bast¬ 
ing-ends very firmly, then shake the two skirts well to¬ 
gether, and baste around the bottom. The lining had 
better be a little loose. Otherwise, it may pull and drag 
the outside. 

A walking-skirt has commonly lapped or stitched 
seams. For the lap, cut the edges very smooth, lay one 
upon the other, lapping an inch, and baste firmly together. 
Stitch as close as possible to the outer edge on the right 
side, and again three-quarters-of-an-inch from that. 
Such a skirt needs only a braid binding at bottom, but 
may have a shaped facing sewed on, turned over exactly 
at the seam, basted up on the wrong side, and stitched in 
place with one or many rows. The stitched seam, which 
is worth practising, because it appears on so many things, 





356 


Household Economy [Chapter 


is first sewed up in ordinary fashion, then opened and 
each side stitched down anew as near the edge as pos¬ 
sible. This is an excellent finish for children’s cloaks, 
and woollen garments generally. 

To make a neat, almost invisible front placket, baste 
up the whole seam, but begin stitching at the placket level. 
Press throughout, then rip out the basting, slip a thin 
strong tape under the pressed edges, sew on hooks and 
eyes, then face the front with silk of the same colour, 
and set on the other side a pinked fly of the skirt cloth 
to lap at least two inches and a half under it. Ripping 
at the placket-bottom may be made impossible by doubling 
a small square of silk and setting it, gusset-fashion, across 
the end of the seam. Plackets or pockets anywhere can 
be finished the same way. Unless the hooks are very 
small, it is best to cover the eyes with silk button-holing, 
or else to use silk loops in place of them. 

For the Little Folk 

It was a wise mother who said: “ I try to give my 
children just enough clothes every season to wear out 
well. ,, With a succession of olive plants through which 
garments can descend as they are outgrown, it may be 
worth while to spend much time and strength on them, 
but most commonly such spending is a waste. Plain 
clothes, well shaped, clean, and in full supply, are worth 
all the finery that ever fluttered to the torment of little 
hearts and the discomfort of big ones. 

It is positive and unspeakable cruelty to swathe a new¬ 
born baby in things stiff with tucks and embroidery. A 
baby’s skin all over is more delicate than that of a grown¬ 
up eye-lid. The eye-lid is the test for an infant’s ward¬ 
robe; whatever hurts, or is even unpleasant to it, ought 
to be thrown aside. Even the softest stuffs are sold with 
more or less dressing in them. They should be well 





Eighteen] Cfje :fattulp g>etotng 


357 


shrunken in boiling water before making up, and then 
after making thoroughly laundered, without a trace of 
starch. Further, they ought to be ironed with warm, 
not hot, irons, as the hot ones give a sort of crackly sur¬ 
face. Make the first long clothes as simply as possible. 
No other trimming than a fine lace-edge at neck and 
wrists is comfortable, and none other is therefore per¬ 
missible. 

Almost the same may be said of short clothes. Lawns, 
muslins, gingham, are all the better for shrinking before 
making up. Flannel need not be wet, but should not go 
next new-born skin. Shirts coming well down around 
the hips can be knitted loosely on fine steel needles from 
the softest white wool. Do not use Saxony; it is too 
wiry. Even in Shetland there is a choice—to be de¬ 
termined by the eye-lid. 

For children of larger growth the most that can be 
said is that the essential points are simplicity, symmetry, 
and freedom to develop their growing bodies. Frocks 
with tight belts have robbed childhood of joyous cen¬ 
turies. They ought to be forbidden by special enactment, 
as it should be further forbidden to put a mourning gar¬ 
ment upon a little child. 

Vagaries of the Machine 

Sewing-machines have moods quite as unmistakable as 
those of their owners. Sometimes, for no reason in the 
world, one refuses to sew a particular stuff, no matter 
how it is presented, thick or thin, single, double, or in 
gathers. Occasionally it is a very thin stuff which is thus 
repudiated. The best remedy is to lay a slip of paper 
each side the offending seam, slip it under the presser- 
foot, and sew with steady force. After sewing, the 
paper can be pulled off. 

Sometimes the feed refuses to take hold upon shrunken 




35 8 


Household Economy [Chapter 


white goods, though more commonly shrinking is a bet¬ 
terment as regards sewing. In that case, it is well to 
wet the seams with starch-water, and press them dry 
before trying to sew. It is troublesome, but less so than 
wrestling with a contrary machine. White stuffs with 
much dressing in them, loaded silks, and wiry woollens, 
are also apt to occasion trouble. For the white stuff, 
rub the seams with soap; for the silk, use a bit of wax; 
for the wool, a soaping, with waxing afterward. This 
when the fault lies unmistakably with the texture. Half 
the time, at least, when a machine of good make goes 
thus half-way on strike, it will be found that something 
is wrong—it wants oil in a vital spot, or the feed is 
clogged with lint, or a screw or nut is too tight or too 
loose. Make haste slowly by looking for the flaw, and 
at once remedying it. Time can in nowise be better 
expended. 

Patching, Darning, and Mending 

Patching, darning, and mending deserve a separate 
chapter; they can be no more than glanced at thus at 
the tag-end of so much else. All three may be brought 
almost to the level of high art. Indeed, it is an open 
question as to whether or no they constitute the real test 
of needle-craft. A thing worth patching at all is worth 
patching well; still, there is something to be said for the 
view of a good deacon who explained that by the parable 
of old wine in new bottles: “ Our Lord meant to enforce 
the great truth that sometimes a hole will last longer than 
a patch ” 

Patching by machine is wholly possible. It is, in fact, 
the best way of patching any big rent that can be mended 
flat. Cut a patch amply big, and baste it under the rent, 
so the threads will run with those of the thing to be 
mended. Stitch a row all around the patch, an inch from 



Eighteen] %\n jTamtlj) Vetoing 


359 


the outer edge. Next turn under the raw edges neatly, 
and stitch them down. Now reverse the work. Cut out 
the rent, leaving a three-quarter-inch margin next the 
first row of stitching. Cut half through it at the corners, 
turn under the edges, and stitch them down. 

To patch the trousers of a small boy or a big one at 
the knee, rip up the outer seam well past the hole, cut 
out the worn part square across the leg, set in a new 
piece matching thread to thread, stitch it firm, press the 
seams flat, then sew up the leg-seam, fasten, and press. 

White stuff, when it begins to break, seldom pays for 
patching. But shirts worn only around the neck-band 
may have their lease of usefulness almost doubled by put¬ 
ting on new bands. They must be washed free of starch 
first, and the old bands carefully ripped, not cut off. 
White garments, snagged or burned in wash, are best 
patched by hand. Slip a patch under the rent, then baste 
both upon a piece of stiff paper or linen. Cut the torn 
part to smooth square or oblong edges, notch lightly at 
the corners, turn under, and hem down. Take from the 
paper, and hem down the other side, making the join 
as near as possible like a broadish flat fell. 

To darn small holes in lawn, linen, or damask, baste 
the hole firmly over waxed linen; then, with a very fine 
needle and ravellings of the same stuff, go back and 
forth, letting the threads touch until the hole is covered. 
Take up the stitches at each end in a straight line, and 
barely cover the hole. Weave other threads across this 
first line, going under one, over one, as in the original 
fabric. If the work is well done after pressing, the spot 
will not show. The same method answers for soft un¬ 
patterned silk. But for glace silks and brocades, though 
effectual, it is more apparent. 

To darn cloth, no matter how jagged the tear, lay the 
torn edges so they will touch and baste in place over a 
soft thin woollen, such as cashmere or nun’s veiling. 




360 Household Economy [Chapter 


Then fasten it smoothly over waxed linen, and darn the 
rent in and out with very fine silk exactly matching the 
colour. Use also a very fine needle, take short stitches, 
and go across very close. There should be at the least 
thirty cross-threads to the inch of darn. Fifty is better 
still. But they must be so set as not to pucker or raise 
a ridge. Trim off all loose threads from the right side, 
lay the darn face down upon a blanket, cover it with a 
damp cloth, and press very hard with a heavy, hot iron. 
If the darning is well done, it ought to be invisible for 
at least three months after the pressing. 

Silk ravels so it is ill to mend in any fashion. It may 
be darned zigzag and last, but wears the usual appear¬ 
ance of premeditated poverty. In darning the yawning 
rents of children’s stockings, it helps to stretch coarse net 
over the holes, catch it on around the edges with a few 
basting-stitches, then weave the darning through its 
meshes. But for knees, and sometimes for heels, patch¬ 
ing is better than darning. Cut the worn place square, 
and big enough to cover the knee-cap, ravel out the 
stitches at top and bottom, and make roll-hems down the 
sides. Do the same things to the patch, first fitting it 
exactly. Whip the hemmed edges together, and join the 
ravelled ones, by sewing rather loosely through a stitch 
at a time in each side. This makes a seam nearly as 
elastic as the stocking, and gives that article a new lease 
of use. 

Rugs and carpets can be darned to manifest advan¬ 
tage. Lay a bit of stout but sleazily woven woollen upon 
the wrong side of a rug, fasten down the frayed edges 
with casual stitches here and there, then darn thickly back 
and forth, using the largest-size embroidery needles and 
either wool, silk, or flax of a harmonious colour. Darn 
threadbare spots in a carpet on the floor with ravellings 
in a fine curve-ended upholsterer’s needle. If there are 
moth-eaten spots in Moquette or Turkey carpets, match 




Eighteen] Ci)e jTamtlj> Returns 3^ 


the colours as near as possible in soft fine wool, cut the 
wool into short lengths, and sew the tufts to the carpet 
with fine twist or flax, drawing the stitches so tight the 
wool stands up each side. When the spot is well cov¬ 
ered with the tufting, trim it smooth with very sharp 
shears. Stair-carpets may be darned across the worn 
places, filling them with coloured wool, and then tacked, 
so the darns come on the rises, not the treads. 

To inset a patch in a carpet on the floor: Mark the 
limits of the patch before taking up that part, cut it out 
as soon as loose, and match the figure in the patch by it. 
Leave the patch an inch-and-a-half bigger all round. Cut 
through the corners of the hole diagonally for three- 
quarters of an inch, double back the cut edges, and seam 
in the patch. Press the seam hard with the heaviest iron 
at hand before tacking down. 


THE END. 












Alphabetical Untie* 


A 

Acid-poisoning, remedies for, 308. 

Almonds, how to keep, 126. 

Ammonia, for cleaning carpets, 

66 , 68 . 

For cleaning floors, 73. 

For cleaning silver, 109. 

For removing grease-spots, 34. 

For use in house-cleaning, 63. 

For washing glass, 100. 

For washing wrought iron and 
steel, 112. 

To be kept in wall-closet, 12. 

Andirons, how to clean, ill. 

Animals, keeping, 133. 

Sick, how to treat, 15 7-159. 

Appetite, loss of, cherry-bark water 
a remedy for, 331. 

Apples, how to keep, 118. 

Ash flooring, best for kitchen, 2. 

Asparagus beds, how to make 
profitable, 207. 

Azaleas, buying and caring for as 
house plants, 227. 

B 

Babies' clothes, how to make, 356. 

Bacteria in plumbing traps, 236. 

Bacterial system of country- 
house drainage, 248. 

Bag seam, how to make, 344. 

Balsam cucumber, a remedy for 
healing green wounds, 336. 
Bandages for use in the sick¬ 
room, how to make, 304. 


Barns, about, 134-136. 

Drainage of, 136. 

Foundation of, 135. 

How to build, 134, 135. 

Ordinary dimensions of, 134. 
Base=board, snug fit of, in kitchen 
floor, 3. 

Bath-room, use of putty in the, 30. 
Bathing and dressing a patient, 

instructions for, 296-298. 

Beds for the sick, arrangement of, 
286, 287. 

Beef, hints on pickling, 48. 

Beets, how to keep, 118. 

How to plant, 210. 

Benzine for exterminating 
roaches in kitchen closets, 

45- 

Bergamot and balm, a remedy 
for malaria, 332. 

i( Bird in the floor, a," creaking 

boards, 3. 

Bites, remedies for, 323, 324. 
Bitters, wild cherry, 330. 

Blackberry-root tea, how to 

make, 328. 

Black-pepper tea, for use in 

freshening colour of stockings, 

97- 

Blankets, how to care for, 51. 

Bleach-barrel, the uses of, 311, 
312. 

Bleaches, 309-312. 

Carbolic acid, 310. 

Chloride of lime, 310. 

Javelle water, how to make, 309. 
Lime-water, 309. 

Oxalic acid, 311. 


3 6 3 


3 6 4 


Household Economy 


Bleaches, disinfectants, and in¬ 
secticides, 309, 324. 

Bites, stings, and ivy poison, 323, 
324- 

Bleaches, 309-312. 

Disinfectants, 312-315. 

Flea-fighting, 322. 

Flies, preventives against, 321. 

Insecticides, 315-321. 

Moles and mosquitoes, how to ex¬ 
terminate, 323. 

Bloating in cows, treatment for, 
165, 166. 

Blurs on mirrors, how to re¬ 
move, 37. 

Board floors, for kitchens, 2. 

Bohemian glass, how to wash, 
104. 

Boilers, laundry, how to keep 
clean, 83. 

Boneset, a remedy for catarrh of 
the stomach, 339. 

Boning garments, instructions 
for, 353, 354. 

Books, old, disposal of, 79. 

Borax, for cleaning floors, 73. 

For cleaning furniture, 76. 

For cleaning hard-wood, 72. 

For cleaning matting, 72. 

For cleaning windows, 70. 

For use in house-cleaning, 63. 

For washing paint and enamel 
finishes, 71. 

For washing prints, 93. 

Powdered, for keeping roaches 
away, 45. 

Bordeaux mixture, for green¬ 
house use, 219. 

How to make, 318. 

Bosom-boards, how to make, 86. 

Bottle-rack, for use in kitchen, 17. 

Botts in horses, treatment for, 
158, 159- 

Brads, use of, in mending furni¬ 
ture, 41. 

Brasses, how to clean, 77, 111. 

Brazil nuts, how to keep, 126. 

Bread, how to keep, 127. 

Bread jars or boxes, how to use, 
127. 


Bric-a-brac, how to clean, 112. 

Brick flooring for detached or 
cellar kitchens, 2. 

Brie cheese, how to keep, 125. 
Brocade hangings, how to clean, 

77- 

Broilers —duck and chickens, how 
to raise, 185-189. 

Bulbs, as house plants, 225, 226. 
Burners, lamp, how to clean, 274. 
Burning, acrid smell of, how to 
control, 8. 

Burns, treatment of, 307. 

Butter and milk, how to keep, 
122. 

Button-holes, how to make, 346, 
347- 

c 

Cabbages, how to plant, 210. 
Cake, how to keep, 128, 129. 
Calamus-root, a remedy for mild 
dyspepsia, 339. 

Callas, for house plants, 226. 
Camphor, to exterminate ants, 11. 
For rugs, 52. 

For use in the store-room, 50. 
Canary birds, how to choose and 
feed, 175-180. 

Candles, used by fastidious home¬ 
makers, 275. 

Candlesticks, brass, how to clean, 
hi. 

Canned goods, 123-125. 

Acid fruits risky to buy, 124. 

Care necessary in buying, 123. 
How to keep, 124. 

Swelled cans, guard against, 124. 
What vegetables safe to buy, 124. 
Canton-flannel bags, for storing 
silverware in, 108. 

Carbolic acid, how to prepare, 311. 

For greenhouse use, 220. 

Carbolic soap, how to make, 312. 
Carpet-cleaning, process of, 67- 
69. 

Carpet-patching, on the floor, 

361. 

Carpet-sewing, 343, 344. 





alphabetical ^nbcjr 


3 6 5 


Carpets, how to darn, 360. 

How to store them, 52. 

Carriage-house, how to furnish, 
138. 

Carriages, how to choose and care 
for, 136, 137. 

How to clean, 138. 

Carrots, how to keep, 118. 

Carved work, how to clean, 76. 

Carving-knives, how to wash, 
107. 

Cashmere shawls, how to keep 
in store-room, 50. 

Castor-oil plant, the, for killing 
moles and mosquitoes, 323. 

Cats, care of, 171-174. 

Cauliflowers, how to keep, 119. 

How to prevent smell from, in 
cooking, 9. 

Cedar tubs, advantage of, in apart¬ 
ments, 81. 

Cedar-wood shelves for store¬ 
rooms, use of, in modern 
houses, 50. 

Ceiling, papering a, 32. 

Scraping a, 33. 

Celery, how to keep, 120. 

Cellar disinfectants, 314. 

Cement, the most durable, 114. 

Cereals, how to keep, 131. 

Cesspools and earth-drains, 

246-248. 

How to build cesspools, 246. 

How to keep privies and earth- 
closets inoffensive, 247. 

Slop drains, how to construct, 247. 

The proper disposal of refuse, 246. 

Chain dish-cloths, use and clean¬ 
ing of, 17. 

Chamomile, use of, for the com¬ 
plexion, 329. 

Chemicals, preservative, caution 
necessary in using, 132. 

Cherry-bounce, how to make, 332. 

Cherry stains for wood, 25. 

Chiffonier, for kitchen use, 17. 

Chimneys, lamp, how to care for, 
274. 

China, how to wash, 104-106. 

How to mend, M2. 


China-closets, 60-62. 
Arrangement of, 60, 61. 
China-closet commandments, 62, 
Glassware in, 61. 

How to clean, 61. 

How to line, 61. 

Location of, 60. 

Plates and dishes, how to arrange 
in, 62. 

What they should hold, 60. 

China, glass, and metal, clean¬ 
ing of, 99115 

Brass andiron, cleaning, ill, 112. 
China, washing, 104-106. 
Decanters, care of, 101, 102. 
Glass, how to polish, 102, 103. 
Glass, plain and decorated, 103. 
Glass, washing, 99. 

Knives, as to, 106, 107. 

Mending things, 112. 

Silver—keeping and cleaning, 108- 
m. 

Chives, growing, 209. 

Chloride of lime, how to dissolve, 
310- 

Chloroform Stupor, treatment for, 
308. 

Churn, revolving, use of, 154. 
Cisterns, better than wells in allu¬ 
vial regions, 258. 

Cleaning, frequent, of a sick-room, 
293, 294. 

Brass and iron, ill, 112. 
China-closets, 61. 

Enamel finishes and hard-wood, 71. 
Floors, 73. 

Furniture, 75. 

Matting, 72. 

Steel and silver knives, 107. 

The garret, 78. 

Cleaning bedrooms, 64-67. 

How to proceed, 64, 65. 
Ventilating after cleaning, 67. 

Cleaning carpets and rugs, 67- 

69. 

Beating them outdoors, 68. 

Steam carpet-cleaning, 68. 

Clear starching, care necessary in. 
94- 

Clinkers, remedy for, 284. 





366 


Household Economy 


Closet don’ts, 42-44. 

Closets: 

China, 60-62. 

Clothes, 57. 

Housemaid’s, 57. 

Kitchen, 42. 

Lamp, 57. 

Linen, 54. 

Medicine, 303. 

Closets, concerning, 42-62. 

How and when to keep things, 

47 - 49 - 

Pantries and store-rooms, 45-47. 
Rugs and carpets, 52-54. 

Storing clothes, furs, blankets, 
etc., 49-5 2 . 

Cloth, how to darn, 359. 

Cloth garments, how to pack 
away, 53. 

Clothes-baskets, selection and 
care of, 83, 84. 
Clothes-closets, 57—59. 
Accommodations in, 59. 
Arrangement of, for men’s clothes, 
57 - 58 . 

For women’s clothes, 58. 

How to keep clean, 59. 
Clothes-press, for kitchen use, 17. 
Clothing, for the little folk, 356, 

357 - 

Winter, how to pack away, 53. 
Coal, different kinds of, 280. 

Cocoa-matting on kitchen 
floor, 4. 

Cold frames, how to make, 206. 
Colds, remedies for, 340. 

Colic, remedies for, 339. 

Colic in horses, treatment for, 157. 
Comforts, down, how to wash, 39. 
How to care for in the store-room, 
51 - 

Complexion, chamomile for the, 
329 . 

Compost heap, the, 156, 157. 
Contagion and disinfection, 

300-303. 

Arrangement of patient’s room, 

3cn. 

Disinfectants, how to use, 301. 
Isolation of patient, 300. 


Contagion and disinfection.— 

Continued. 

Rubber cloaks, use of, 301. 
Scarlet-fever patients, treatment 
of, 302. 

Treatment of other contagious 
cases, 302. 

Convulsions in children, reme¬ 
dies for, 340. 

Cookies, sugar, how to keep, 129. 

Cooking-vessels, how to clean, 

hi. 

Copper boilers, more expensive 
than others, 83. 

Copper kettles and saucepans, 

how to clean, ill. 
Corner-cupboard, convenience of, 
14. 

Corn-starch, for cleaning rugs, 
69. 

Corrosive sublimate, as a disin¬ 
fectant in the bedroom, 65. 
Cotton-batting, sachets of, for 
store-rooms, 50. 

Coughs, remedies for, 340. 

Wild-cherry bark for, 331. 
Country-house system of 
drainage, workings of, 248. 
Cow, idiosyncrasies of, 156. 

Treatment for a sick, 161. 

Cow, the family, 147-149. 

Feeding, 149. 

How to select one, 147 . 

Tying up, 147. 

Weight of, 148. 

Where to feed, 147. 

Cow-sense, a little, 155 . 156 . 
Cows, how to keep and feed, 133. 
Crackers, how to keep, 131, 132. 
Cream, how to keep, 123, 152. 
Crematory, how to make a cheap 
and effective, 251. 

Crickets, how to destroy, 220. 
Croup, remedies for, 340. 
Cucumbers, how to plant, 21 1. 
Curtain stretchers, how to make, 
96. 

Curtains, how to wash, 95, 96. 
Cuts, bleeding, treatment of, 306, 

307- 




&iplmbettcai fnbej: 


3 6 7 


D 

Dandelion, a remedy for disordered 
stomach or torpid liver, 338. 

Darning clothing, 359, 360. 
Decanters, care of, 101, 102. 
Denim, how to store, 54. 

Dents in wood and metal, how 

to remove, 35. 

Detached kitchen, flooring for, 2. 
Dewberry cordial, 328. 
Diarrhoea, remedies for, 339. 

Dirt on mirrors, how to remove, 
36. 

Dish-towels, fingered racks for, 12. 
Disinfectants, 312-315. 

Bichloride of mercury, 312. 

Blue vitriol, 313. 

Carbolic soap, 312. 

Cellar disinfectants, 314. 

Sulphate solutions, 313. 

White vitriol, 313. 

Disinfection in contagious dis¬ 
eases, the necessity for, 300- 
303 - 

Disordered stomach, remedy for, 
338, 339. 

Distemper in horses, how to 

treat, 160. 

Distilled water, how to make pala¬ 
table, 266. 

Doctor, simple things to do until he 
comes, 306, 307. 

Dog don’ts, 168, 169. 

Dog-kennels, how to build, 170. 
Dogs, choice of, 168. 

Feeding of, 169. 

Donkeys, for village driving, 144. 
Door cracks, filled with soft wood, 

7 - 

Down comforts, how to wash, 39. 
Draining-board, helpful in dish¬ 
washing, 13. 

Drawers, as to, 40. 

Dresser, movable, 17. 

Dressing a patient, 297, 298. 
Drinking and cooking water, 
255. 

Drop-iights for reading by, 270. 


Drying clothes, 89-91. 

Hanging out shirts, 90. 

How to hang clothes out, 89. 
Starching collars and cuffs, 91. 
Starching shirts, 90. 

Dyeing wood and wicker fur¬ 
niture, 27. 

Dysentery, remedies for, 339. 

E 

Earth-worms, how to destroy,220. 
Eggs, how to keep, 126. 

Egg-shell china, how to wash, 106. 
Elder bark, a remedy for the treat¬ 
ment of green wounds, 337. 
Electricity, lighting by, 269, 271. 
Enamel finishes, cleaning, 71. 

F 

Faucets, brass and silver, how to 
scour, 241. 

Feather-beds, how to wash, 39. 
Felled seams, how to make, 344. 
Fenders, brass, how to clean, ill. 
Fennel, growing, 209. 

Ferns, cultivation and treatment of, 
224. 

Fertilisingand manuring grass- 
plots, 191, 192. 

Filberts, how to keep, 126. 

Filter, a cheap and efficient, 263. 
Finger-stalls, how to make, 305. 
Fireplace hoods, for prevention of 
unpleasant odors, 9. 
Fireplaces, open, best for cooking, 

9 - 

Fires, making, 282. 

Fitting on garments, 353. 
Flat-dwellers, advice to, 7-8. 
Flea-fighting, 322. 

Fleas on cats, sulphur-soap for, 
172. 

On dogs, how to get rid of, 169. 
Flies, preventives against, 321. 
Floor, the, 1-5. 

Cocoa-matting on kitchen, 4. 
Heart-pine boards for kitchen, 2. 
Ideal, 1. 



3 68 


Household Economy 


Floor-brush, for cleaning kitchen 
floors, 74. 

Flooring: 

Ash, 2. 

Brick, for kitchen cellar, 2. 

For detached kitchen, 2. 
Hardwood, 2. 

Oak boards for, 2. 

Oak, springiness of, 3. 

Floors : 

Board, 2. 

Linoleum for, I. 

Oil-cloth for, I, 2. 

Painted, 2. 

Stone-flagged harmful, 2. 

When to scrub, 4. 

Floors, cleaning, 73 - 75 - 

Bare boards, how to polish, 74. 
How to wash, 73. 

Knee-pads, use of, 73 - 
Oiling, 74. 

Waxing, 74. 

When to scrub, 4. 

Flour, how to keep, 130. 
Flower-beds and borders, plant¬ 
ing and arranging, 198-200. 
Flushing, perfect, end and aim of 
good plumbing, 240. 
Fly-preventives, 321. 
Fly-specks on mirrors, how to 
remove, 36. 

Foot disease in horses, treatment 
of, 161, 162. 

Foot-tubs necessary for the 
sick-room, 292. 

Four-footed friends, 133-167. 
About barns, 134-136. 

Carriages and harness, choice and 
care of, 136-139. 

Compost heap, the, 156. 

Cow, feeding the, 149. 

Cow-sense, a little, 155, 156. 

Cow, the family, 147-149. 

Cow, treatment for a sick, 165-167. 
Distemper and pink-eye, 160. 
Foot-disease, a, 161-163. 

Glanders, 161. 

Horse, care of, 144-146. 

Horse, how to harness a, 139-142. 
Horse, the family, 142-144. 


Four-footed friends.— Cont'd. 
Milk and milk-vessels, care of, 
151, 152, 155. 

Milking and milk-pails, 150. 
Separators, 152-154. 

Sick animals, 157—159- 
Stalls and fittings, 146, 147. 
Swinney, spavin, and galls, 163, 
164. 

Fowl run, the, making and ex¬ 
pense of, 183. 

French polish for hard woods, 

36. 

Fresh-air closet, 10. 

An absolute necessity in the sick¬ 
room, 289. 

Better than an ice-box, 10. 

Boon to the flat-dweller, 10. 

For storing meats, etc., 116. 

How to make one, 10. 

How to cleanse, 11. 

Fresh-air pipes, an important ad¬ 
junct to house-pipes, 235. 
Frosted glass, how to wash, 103. 
Fruit garden, the, 200-205. 

Dwarf fruit-tree planting, 202. 
Laying out and planting, 200, 201. 
Pinching and root-pruning, 204. 
Planting grape-vines, 201. 

Small fruits and vines, how to 
cultivate, 203. 

Tree selections, 202. 

Fruits, dried, how to keep, 131. 

Fresh, how to keep, 118, 119. 
Fuel, choice and care of, 279- 
281. 

Coal, 280. 

Coal-bins, how to construct, 280. 
Coal-supply, purchasing of, 281. 
Wood, 279. 

Fumigating greenhouses, to pre¬ 
vent souring, 221. 

Furnace heat in the sick-room, 

how to soften, 290. 

Furnaces, varieties of, 277. 
Furniture, instructions for dyeing 
wood and wicker, 27. 
Furniture cleaning, 75-77. 

To clean brasses, 77. 

To clean carved work, 76. 




Alphabetical 3fnt>ejr 


3 6 9 


Furniture Cleaning. 

Gilt furniture, 76. 

Mahogany, 76. 

Upholstered furniture, 75. 

Willow and wicker, 75. 

Furniture hangings, care of, 51. 
Furniture mending, 40. 

Brads, use of, 41. 

How to make glue, 40. 

Mending wood, 41. 

Furniture=polish, a cheap and 
excellent, 35. 

Furs, how to store, 53. 

G 

Galls in horses, treatment of, 164. 
Gapes in chickens, how to treat, 
188. 

Garbage and rubbish, disposal of, 

251. 

Garret, cleaning the, 78-80. 

Gas, an active agent in tarnishing 
silver, 108. 

Gas and electricity, lighting by, 
269. 

Gas-heat, drawbacks of, 278. 

Gas leaks, hints on, 270. 
Gas-stove, usefulness of a, in the 
sick-room, 289. 

Geraniums, showy effect of, for 
window gardens, 229. 
Gherkins, when to plant, 212. 

Gilt furniture, how to clean, 76. 
Gilt glass, how to wash, 104. 

Gilt mirror frames, how to clean, 

36. 

Glanders, treatment of, 161. 

Glass, crown, best for windows, 6. 
How to mend, 112. 

How to polish, 102. 

How to wash, 99-101. 

Plain and decorated, how to wash, 
103. 

Glue, how to make, 40. 

Good food depends on skill of 
the cook, 1. 

Gorgonzola cheese, how to keep, 
125. 

Gout, remedies for, 341, 342. 


Grape-vines, insect powder for, 
319 . 

Grass plot, a, 191-194. 

Fertilizing and manuring, 191, 192. 
Sodding, 191. 

Sown grass preferable, 192. 

Time for sowing, 193. 

Varieties of lawn-grass mixtures, 
193 - 

Weeding and watering, 193. 
Grates, open, preferable to stoves, 
276. 

Grease on painted surfaces, 5. 
Grease-can for refuse fat of 
kitchen, 243. 

Greenhouses, 214-219. 

Artificially heated greenhouse, 216. 
Cutting and potting, 217. 

Fitting up, 215. 

Fumigating, 221. 

How to construct one at little cost, 
214-216. 

Planting seeds and cuttings, 215. 
Training passion flowers, 215. 

Greenhouses, window-gar- 
dens, and house plants, 

214-232. 

House plants, 221-227. 

Pests, how to fight, 218-221. 
Window-gardens, 227-232. 

Green peas, how to plant, 210. 
Green wounds, remedies for heal¬ 
ing, 335 - 337 - 

Guinea-pigs, how to keep, 173. 

Gutters and leaders, proper 
construction of, 260. 

H 

Hair-mattresses, howto wash, 39. 
Hams, hints on keeping, 48. 
Hangings, how to clean, 77. 

Furniture, how to preserve, 51. 
Hard-wood, how to clean, 72. 
Hard-wood flooring for kitch¬ 
ens, 2. 

Hard woods, French polish for, 36. 
Harness, how to keep in order, 139. 

Harnessing and driving horses, 

directions for, 139-141. 




370 


Household Economy 


Hats, old, disposal of, 79. 

Healing simples, 325-342. 

Bergamot and balm, 332-334. 

Blackberry-root, 328. 

Chamomile for the complexion, 
329 , 330 - 

Colic, diarrhoea, and dysentery, 
339 - 

Coughs, croup, and convulsions, 
remedies for, 340. 

Dewberry cordial, 328. 

Disordered stomachs, remedies 
for, 338. 

Gout, remedies for, 341-342. 

Green wounds, treatment of, 335— 
337 - 

Saw-brier for nerves, 327. 

Sleeping potions, 334, 335. 

Sore mouths, remedies for, 338. 

Tar as a therapeutic, 325, 326. 

Vermifuges, 337. 

White-walnut tea, 327. 

Wild-cherry—bark and fruit, 330- 
332. 

Heart-pine boards, good for 
kitchen floor, 2. 

Heat, softening, 284. 

Heaters and heating, as to, 276- 
279. 

Cold-air pipes, 277. 

Fire-pots, 277. 

Flues and pipes, cleaning of, 277. 

Furnaces, varieties of, 277. 

Gas-heat, drawbacks of, 278. 

Open grates preferable to stoves, 
276. 

Steam-heat, 278. 

Hems, how to make, 345. 

Hens, raising for profit, 182, 183. 

Herb corner, cultivating an, 212. 

Hooks and eyes, how to put on, 
354 - 

Horse, care of a, 144-146. 

Horse-colic, treatment of, 157— 
159 - 

Horse diseases and their treat¬ 
ment : 

Botts, 158, 159. 

Colic, 157, 159. 

Distemper, 160. 


Horse diseases and their treat¬ 
ment. —Con tinued. 

Foot disease, 161, 162. 

Galls, 164. 

Glanders, 161. 

Pink eye, 160. 

Spavin, 164. 

Splints, 163. 

Swinney, 163, 164. 

Wind-falls, 163. 

Horse, how to harness a, 139-141. 
The family, 142-144. 

How to cure of tricks, 143. 

How to select and what to avoid, 
142, 143. 

Horse’s pulse, where to feel, 159. 
Horses, how to keep and feed, 133. 

Sea-bathing good for, 162. 
Hotbeds, cost of, 206. 

Hot water for use in the sick¬ 
room, 289. 

Hot=water pipes, leaks in, 40. 
House cleaning, 63-80. 

Bed-room cleaning, 64-67. 

Carpets and rugs, 67-69. 

Enamel finishes and hard wood, 
cleaning of, 71, 72. 

Floors, 73-75. 

Furniture cleaning, 75-77. 

Garret, in the, 78-80. 

Hangings, 77. 

How to dress while house clean¬ 
ing, 63. 

Matting, to clean, 72. 

Paint, washing, 71. 

Prime necessities for, 63. 
Rubbing-pads, how to make, 64. 
Window washing, 69, 70. 
Household tools, outfit of, 19. 
Housemaid’s closet, 57. 
Arrangement of, 57. 

Location of, 57. 

House plants, 221-227. 

Azaleas, 227. 

Bulbs, 225, 226. 

Callas, 226. 

Ferns, treatment of, 224. 
Fertilizing for, 221. 

Lilies, 226. 

Palms, 221, 222. 




37i 


Alphabetical ftitiejr 


House plants —Continued. 
Rose-trees, 225. 

Rubber plants, 224. 

Rust blotches, 223. 

I 

Iced cake, how to keep, 128. 

Ideal floor for kitchens, 1. 
Insecticides, 315-321. 

Bisulphide of lime, 319. 

Bordeaux mixture, 318. 

Kerosene emulsion, 319. 

Larkspur, 316. 

Mosquitoes, for, 317. 

Moth-killing, 315. 

Naphtha, 315. 

Poison powders, 318. 

Roaches and water bugs, to kill, 
316. 

Insomnia, cherry-bark water a 
a remedy for, 331. 

Iron and steel, how to clean, hi. 
Ironing, hints on, 98. 

Shirts, instructions for, 91, 92. 
Ironing-boards, selection of, 86. 
Ironing-tables, how to make, 86. 
Ivy-poisoning, remedy for, 324. 

J 

Japanese morning-glories for 
window gardens, 229. 
Jardinieres, not fitted for potting 
palms, 222. 

Javelle water, how to make, 309. 
Jellies, hints on making, 47. 

Jewellers, sawdust useful for 
drying glass, 101. 

K 

Kale-seed, sowing, 209. 
Kalsomine finish for walls, mix¬ 
ing and applying, 22. 

Keeping things, 116-132. 

Bread and cake, 127-129. 

Butter and milk, 122, 123. 

Canned goods, 123-125. 


Keeping things.— Continued. 

Eggs, 126, 127. 

Fruit and vegetables, 118-120. 

Lard and oil, 129, 130. 

Meats—salt and fresh, 116, 117. 

Nuts, cheese, and raisins, 125, 
126. 

Preservative chemicals so-called, 
132. 

Refrigerators, 120, 121. 

Sugar, salt, spices, flour, soap, 
130, 131 - 

Syrups, cereals, dried fruits, 131. 

Kennels, how to build, 170. 

Kerosene emulsion, how to make, 
319 - 

Kettles, copper, how to clean, in. 

Kitchen-closets, 42-45. 

Closet don’ts, 42-44. 

Closets for earthenware, 44. 

Quick-lime useful in, 44. 

Roaches in, how to exterminate, 

45 -. 

Scouring, 44. 

Kitchen convenience, 1-18. 

Controlling kitchen odours, 8-10. 

Floor, the, 1-5. 

Fresh-air closet, sink, and drain¬ 
ing-board, 10-14. 

Ranges, shelves, and closets, 14- 
18. 

Walls and ceiling, 5. 

Windows and doors, 6-8. 

Kitchen odours, controlling, 8- 

10. 

Acrid smell of burning, 8. 

Cauliflowers, to prevent smelling 
from, 9. 

Onions, how to abate smell of, 8. 

Open fireplace best, 9. 

Trumpet-ventilators necessary, 10. 

Kitchen table, place for, 13. 

Kitchen window gardens, pos¬ 
sibilities of, 208, 209. 

Knives, as to, 106-108. 

Care in washing, 106. 

How to clean steel and silver 
knives, 107. 

How to wash carving knives and 
forks, 107. 





372 


Household Economy 


L 

Lace curtains, how to wash, 95. 
Lace hangings, how to clean, 77. 
Lamp-closet, location and ar¬ 
rangement of, 57. 

Lamps, 271-275. 

Burners, how to clean, 274. 
Chimneys, how to care for, 274. 
Dangers of filling, 272. 

How to fill, 274. 

How to mend, 113. 

Perfect lamp-light, 271. 
Receptacles for holding oil, 273. 
Selection of wicks, 273. 

Students’ lamps, 271. 

Lard, how to keep, 129. 

Larkspur soap, how to make, 317. 
Laundry, in the, 81-98. 

Baskets and sad-irons, 83-85. 
Curtains, washing, 95, 96. 

Drying clothes, 89-91. 

Helps, some small, 98. 
Ironing-boards and tables, 85-87. 
Laundry equipment, 81-83. 
Laundry stoves, 85. 

Prints, washing and starching, 92- 

95 - 

Shirts, the way to iron, 91, 92. 
Stockings and underwear, 96-98. 
Wash-days, 87. 

Laundry equipment, 81-83. 
Boilers, how to keep clean, 83. 
Copper boilers. 83. 

How to keep the tubs in order, 82. 
Necessaries for the laundry, 87. 
Wringers, how to select, 82. 
Laundry stoves, varieties of, 85. 
Lawn and garden, 191-213. 

Cold frames, asparagus beds, and 
hot beds, 206-208. 

Flower-beds and borders, 198-200. 
Fruit garden, the, 200-205. 

Grass plot, a, 191-194. 

Herb corner, an, 212. 
Kitchen-window gardens, 208, 
209. 

Lawn-planting, 194-198. 
Vegetables, 209-212. 


Lawn-grass mixtures, varieties 
of, 193. 

Lawn=planting, 194-197. 

Fences and hedges, 197. 
Nursery-grown shrubs, how to 
plant, 196. 

Shrubs and flower-beds for, 194, 
195- 

Summer-houses, 197. 

Leeks, growing, 209. 

Lettuce, how to keep, 120. 

Light, to soften or change, in the 
sick-room, 295. 

Lighting and heating, 269-285. 

Candles, 275. 

Clinkers, 284. 

Fires, making, 282-284. 

Fuel — choice and care of, 279- 
282. 

Heat, softening, 284, 285. 

Heaters and heating, as to, 276- 
2 79- 

Lamps, 271-275. 

Lights and lighting, 269-271. 
Water-gas, 275, 276. 

Lights and lighting, 269-271. 
Drop-lights for reading by, 270. 
Electric lights, how to soften, 
271. 

Gas and electricity, 269. 

Gas globes, care of, 271. 

Gas leaks, 270. 

Matches, use of, 269. 

Lilies for houseplants, 226. 
Lime, use of, 20. 

Bisulphide of, how to make, 
319- 

Lime-water, how to make, 309. 
Linen-closet, the, 54-56. 
Arrangement of, 54. 

Hints on system in, 55. 

How to curtain the closet, 56. 

How to light it, 56. 

Towel-shelf, 56. 

Use of sachets in, 56. 

Lining for garments, 354. 
Linoleum for kitchen floors, 1. 
Lobelia, a remedy for croup, 340. 
Lock-jaw, prevention of, 303. 



&lpimfcettcal Sfntiejc 


373 


M 

Mahogany films, how to remove, 
36 . 

Mahogany furniture, how to 

clean, 76. 

Mahogany stains for wood, 25. 
Malaria, balm-sweat as a remedy 
for, 333. 

Mange in cats, treatment for, 172. 

In dogs, treatment for, 170. 
Marble, how to polish, 35. 
Match-boxes, for kitchen use, 16. 
Matches, use of, 269. 

Matting, to clean, 72. 

Sweeping, 72. 

Washing with salt, 72. 
Mattresses, how to wash, 39. 
Meats, salt and fresh, how to keep, 
116-118. 

Medicine-closet, where to keep a, 

303 - 

Contents of, 303. 

Melons, how to plant, 211. 

Mending clothing, 358-361. 
Furniture, 40. 

Things, 112-115. 

Men’s clothing, disposal of, in 
clothes closets, 57, 58. 
Mercury, bichloride of, for disin¬ 
fectant, 312. 

Metal, how to polish, 34. 
Metal-work, how to mend, 113. 
Milk, how to keep, 122. 

Milk-vessels, care of, 151,152,155. 
Pure, essential to health, 134. 
Separators, 152-155. 

Milking and milk-pails, 150. 
Mirrors, the care of, 36, 37. 

Blurs, how to remove, 37. 
Fly-specks and dirt, how to re¬ 
move, 36. 

Scratches, how to remove, 37 . 

To clean gilt mirror frames, 36. 
Mocking-birds, how to keep, 174. 
Moles, how to kill, 323. 

Moquette carpets, repairing 
moth-eaten spots in, 360. 
Mosquitoes, how to destroy, 317, 
323 - 


Moth-killing remedies, 315, 316. 
Moths, bergamot to keep away, 333. 
Muslin hangings, howto clean, 77. 

Mustard poultices, how to make, 
305 - 

Mustard-seed, sowing, 209. 

N 

Naphtha for killing moths, 315. 
Nasturtiums for window gar¬ 
dens, 228. 

Needlecraft and its practice, 

343 - 346 . 

Nerves, saw-brier a tonic for the, 
327 - 

Nose-bleed, treatment for, 308. 
Nursery sinks, keeping clean and 
sweet, 245. 

Nut-cake, how to keep, 129. 
Nut-holders, how to make, 125. 
Nuts, how to keep, 125. 

o 

Oak boards for kitchen floor¬ 
ing, 2. 

Oak flooring, springiness of, 3. 

Oak-stain for wood, 26. 

Odours, kitchen, controlling, 8-10. 
Oil-cloth for kitchen floors, 1,2. 
Oils, how to keep, 130. 

Onions, growing, 209. 

How to abate smell of, 8. 

Oxalic acid, use of, 311. 

P 

Paint, washing, 71. 

Painted floors for kitchens, 2. 
Painting round the house, hints 
on, 24. 

Painting sash and screen 
frames, 7. 

Painting walls and floors, 23-25. 
Preparing the wall for painting, 23. 
Priming, or first coats, 24. 
Repainting, directions for, 24. 
Surface of walls, how to prepare, 
24. 

Use of ready made paints, 24. 




374 


Household Economy 


Palms as houseplants, 221, 222. 
Pantries, 45. 

Lime, use of, in pantries, 46. 
Requirements of, 45. 

Shelves necessary in, 47. 

Pantry, hints on cleaning the, 49. 
Paper paste, how to make and 
apply, 33- 

Papered walls, how to clean, 33, 
34- 

Paperhanging, 30-33. 

Cutting the paper, 31. 

Frieze and pads, 32. 

How to prepare walls, 30. 
Matching wall-paper, 31. 

Papering a ceiling, 32. 

Pasting, 31, 32. 

Scraping a ceiling, 33. 

Trimming wall-paper, 30. 
Parrots, the care of, 180, 181. 
Parsley, growing, 209. 

Parsnips, how to keep, 118. 
Pasting wall-paper, 31, 32. 
Patching clothes, 358, 359. 
Patient, bathing and dressing 
a, 296-298. 

Changing bed-linen, 297. 

Changing beds, 298. 

How to dress the patient, 297. 
How to give a sponge-bath, 296. 

Patterns, dress, uses and abuses 
of, 351, 352. 

Pears, how to keep, 119. 

Peas, green, how to keep. 119. 
Pecan nuts, how to keep, 126. 

Peppermint test for sewer-gas, 

238. 

Pests, how to fight, 218-221. 
Mildew, 218. 

Mosquitoes, 323. 

Rats and mice, 219. 

Red spiders, 218. 

Slugs, roaches, crickets, and earth¬ 
worms, 219. 

Pets and poultry, 168-190. 
Broilers—ducks and chickens, 
185-189. 

Canary birds, 175-180. 

Cats, care of, 170-T74. 

Dogs and dogs, 168-170. 


Pets and poultry.— Continued. 
Fowl-run, the, 183-185. 

Hens, as to, 182, 183. 

Parrots, the care of, 180, 181. 
Playing mother, 189. 

Poultry, care of, 181, 182. 
Singing-birds, 174. 

Pickles, hints on making, 47. 
Picture=frames, how to clean, 36. 

How to mend, 112. 

Pillows, cleaning, 38, 39. 

Pink eye in horses, how to treat, 
160. 


Pipe materials for plumbing, 

235- 

Pipes and flues, cleaning of, 277, 
278. 

Plant raising, 227. 

Plants, dusting and watering, 232. 
Plumbing, 233-236. 

Fresh-air pipes, 235, 236. 

Good plumbing, 234. 

Leaders, 234. 

Pipe materials, 235. 

Results of bad plumbing, 233. 
Plumbing, abuses of, 242-244. 
Grease cans for refuse, 243. 
Match-ends, hair, soap, and cof¬ 
fee-grounds as clogs, 242, 243. 
Trifling obstacles in pipes, 242. 
Plumbing, care of, 240, 241. 

How to clean traps, 241. 

How to keep sinks clean, 241. 
Scouring brass and silver faucets, 
241. 

Plumbing, location of, 244. 

Bath-room on every floor neces¬ 
sary, 244. 

No plumbing in sleeping-rooms, 

244* 

Plumbing-traps, 236. 


Bacteria in, 236. 

Sewer-gas in, 236. 

Trap-seals, 237. 

Plumbing and sanitation, 233- 

253- 

Abuses of plumbing, 242-244. 
Care of plumbing, 240, 241. 
Cesspools and earth-drains, 246- 
248. 



375 


&Lpf)aflettcal fttbejt 


Plumbing and Sanitation.— 

Continued. 

Country - house drainage, Col. 
Waring’s bacterial system of, 
248-250. 

Good plumbing, 234-236. 

Location of plumbing, 244. 
Nursery sinks, 245. 

Other people’s plumbing, 245. 
Proportion in plumbing, 239, 240. 
Rubbish and garbage, 251-253. 
Testing traps and plumbing, 237- 
239 . 

Traps, 236, 237. 

Plush hangings, how to clean, 
77 . 

Poison powders to kill garden 

insects, 318. 

Poisoning, remedies for, 308. 
Ponies, useful for village driving, 


144 - 

Porcelain tubs for laundry, 81. 

Porcelain-lined sinks for kitch¬ 
ens, 11. 

Pork, hints on pickling, 48. 

Portulaca, planting of, 199. 

Pot herbs, growing, 209. 

Potatoes, how to keep, 118. 

Poultices, how to make, 304, 305. 

Poultry, where to keep, 181, 182. 

Poultry-houses, soft soap for 
scouring out, 321. 

Pound-cake, how to keep, 128. 

Preservative chemicals, caution 
necessary in use of, 132. 

Preserving, hints on, 47. 

Prints, washing and starching, 92- 


Privies and earth-closets, how 

to keep inoffensive, 247. 

Ptomaine poisoning, treatment 
for, 308. 

Ptomaines in dishes, 105. 
Puccoon root, yellow, remedy for 
sore mouth, 338. 
Pudding-bags, use of, 18. 
Purifying water, 263, 264. 
Putty, economy of, 3, 4. 

For closets and pantries, 30, 

For floor-cracks, 28, 


Putty . — Continued. 

For the bath-room, 30. 

How to fill longitudinal spaces, 
28. 

How to make and use, 27-30. 
How to mix, 28. 

How to put in window-glass, 29. 


Q 

Quilts, how to care for, 51. 


R 

Rabbits, how to keep, 173. 

Rabies in dogs, treatment of, 
170, 171. 

Radishes, how to keep, 120. 

How to plant, 210. 

Raisins, how to keep, 125. 
Ranges, 14, 15. 

Coal range most useful, 14. 

Cost of cooking with oil, 15. 

Gas range cheap in summer, 14. 
Oil range, comfort of, 14. 

Potent factors in kitchen conven¬ 
ience, 15. 

Raspberries, cultivation of, 204. 
Rats and mice, how to destroy, 
220. 

Raw seams, how to make, 344. 

Rebel flower, the, 329. 
Recovering and mending fur¬ 
niture, 37. 

Red Spiders, how to destroy in 
greenhouse, 219. 
Refrigerators, 120, 121. 

How to keep clean, 121. 
Porcelain-lined the best, 120. 
Proper use of the ice-chamber, 
121. 

Registers, use of, in furnace-fires, 
277, 282. 

Repairs and restorations, 19- 

4 1 - 

Cellar whitewash, 20, 21. 




Household Economy 


3 


76 


Repairs and Restorations.— 

Continued. 

Drawers, as to, 40. 

Furniture mending, 40, 41. 

Milk whitewash, 22, 23. 

Mirrors, care of, 36, 37. 

Out-door whitewash, 21, 22. 
Quick-lime whitewash, 22, 23. 
Painting walls and floors, 23-25. 
Paper paste, 33. 

Papered walls, to clean, 33, 34. 
Paper-hanging, 30-33. 

Pillows, mattresses, and feather¬ 
beds, cleaning of, 38, 39. 

Putty, how to make and use, 27- 

3 ?- 

Reliable stains for wood, 25, 26. 
Restoring wood, wicker, etc., 26, 
27 - 

Soldering-iron, the, 40. 

Spots in wood and metal, 34-36. 
Upholstery repairing, 37, 38. 

Rhododendrons, good lawn 
shrubs, 195. 

Rice, how to keep, 131. 

Roaches, how to destroy, 220, 316. 
In kitchen closets, how to exter¬ 
minate, 45. 

Roller-towels for kitchen use, 

12. 

Roofs, varieties of, 260. 

Roquefort cheese, how to keep, 
125. 

Rose-trees as house plants, 

225. 

Rubber cloaks for use in infec¬ 
tious sickness, 301. 

Rubber plants for the house, 

224. 

Rubbing pads, how to make, 64. 
Rubbish and garbage, 251-253. 
A cheap and effective crematory, 
251- 

Treatment of vegetable waste, 252. 
Use for grease, 252. 

Vegetable waste breeds pestilence, 

253 - 

Rug-cleaning, 69. 

Rugs, how to darn, 360. 

How to store, 52. 


s 

Sachets, cotton batting, for use in 
store-rooms and trunks, 50, 53. 

Sad-irons, selection and care of, 
84. 

Salad growing, 209. 

Salad-oil, buying and keeping, 
130. 

Salt, how to keep, 130. 

Salvia, raising of, 199. 

Sand-boxes, for mending things, 
114. 

Saucepans, copper, how to clean, 
111. 

Sausage, smoked, hints on making, 
48. 

Saw-brier, remedy for weak nerves, 
327 - 

Sawdust for sprinkling in bed¬ 
rooms, 66 . 

Scaffolding, make shift, 23. 

Scarlet-fever patients, treatment 

of, 302. 

Scouring kitchen-closets, 44. 

Scratches on mirrors, how to re¬ 
move, 37. 

On wood, how to remove, 35. 

Screens for use in the sick¬ 
room, 290. 

Wire gauze best for, 6. 

Sea-bathing for horses, value of, 

162, 163. 

Seaming, 343, 344. 

Seed, when to sow, for window gar¬ 
dens, 228. 

Separators, use of, in the dairy, 
I52-I54- 

Sewer-gas, in plumbing - traps, 
236. 

Tests for, 237-239. 

Sewing—the family sewing and 
plain sewing, 343 561. 

Button-holes, 346. 

Fitting, boning, hooks and eyes, 

353 . 354 - 

Little folk, for the, 356, 357. 

Patching, darning, and mending, 
358 - 361 . 

Patterns, as to, 351, 352. 




Alphabetical 


377 


Sewing. — Continued. 

Sewing-machine, vagaries of the, 
357 , 358 . 

Sewing-room, a, 347 “ 35 °- 

Skirts, 355, 356. 

Sewing-room, requisites for, 347- 
35 o- 

Shelf-surfaces, covering for, 61. 

Shelves, 15-17. 

Putting up, 15. 

Roller-doors for, 16. 

Shirt-bosoms, starching and iron- 
. ing, 90, 91- 

Shirts, hanging out, starching, and 
. ironing, 90-92. 

Mending, 359. 

Shoeing horses, instructions for, 
162. 

Shoes, old, disposal of, 78. 

Sick, bedrooms for the, 286, 
287. 

Arrangement of, 286. 

Bed furnishings, 287. 

Other furnishings, 288-292. 

Position of bed, 287. 

Sick animals, how to treat, 157— 

159 - 

Sick-nurse, the, 298-300. 

Authority of, 300. 

Conduct of, 299. 

Dress of, 298. 

Personality of, 299. 

Sick-room management, 295, 
296. 

Sick-room and nursing, 286- 
308. 

Acid-poisoning, treatment for, 308. 

Bathing and dressing a patient, 
296-298. 

Burns, in case of, 307. 

Contagion and disinfection, 300- 
303 - 

Cuts or wounds, remedies for, 
307 - 

Furnishings for sick-room, 288- 
291. 

Medicine closet, a, 303, 304. 

Nose-bleed, remedy for, 308. 

Poultices, bandages, and the use of 
plaster, 304-306. 


Sick-room and nursing.— Con¬ 
tinued. 

Ptomaine poisoning, 308. 

Sick, beds for the, 286, 287. 

Sick-nurse, a, 298-300. 

Sick-room, cleaning a, 293. 

Sick-room management, 295, 296. 

Sick-room, windows in the, 294, 
295 - 

Temperature in the sick-room, 
291-293. 

Until the doctor comes, 306, 307. 

Silk garments, how to pack away, 
53 - 

Silver, keeping and cleaning, 108- 
iii. 

How to clean and polish, 108. 

Removing egg-stains, 108. 

Select bright days for cleaning, 
109. 

Silver-plated goods indispensable, 
109. 

Silver knives, how to clean, 107. 

Singing-birds, how to keep and 
feed, 174, 175. 

Sinks, 11-12. 

Porcelain lined most cleanly, 11. 

Sink trays for soaps, etc., II. 

Solid cast iron best, 11. 

Wall-closet above sink, contents 
of, 12. 

Wood and zinc should be tabooed, 
11. 

Sinks, nursery, necessity for clean¬ 
liness of, 245. 

Sink-trays, for soaps, etc., 11. 

Skirt-patterns, choosing, 352. 

Skirts, how to iron, 94. 

How to make, 355, 356. 

Slate for kitchen record, 17. 

Sleeping potions, 334, 335. 

Dandelion-root, 334. 

Gentian, 334. 

Hops and hop-pillows, 334, 335. 

May-apple root, 334. 

Sleeplessness, remedies for, 327, 
328, 334, 335. 

Sleeve-boards, covering for, 86. 

Sliding doors, proper construc¬ 
tion of, 7. 



378 


Household Economy 


Sliding - panel windows for 
kitchen and pantry, 13. 
Sliding shelves for store¬ 
rooms, 50. 

Slop-drains, how to construct, 
247. 

Smoke-test for sewer-gas, 

237 - 

Snow-water, use of, 260. 

Soap, how to keep, 131. 
Instructions for making, 320. 
Ruinous to gilt china, 104. 

Soapstone tubs for kitchens, 

81. 

Socks, how to wash, 98. 
Soda-water, use of, in cleansing 
sink-drains, 17. 

Sodding grass-plots, 191. 

Soft soap, for use on fruit-trees 
and grape-vines in early winter, 
321. 

For use in the orchard, garden, 
and poultry-house, 320. 
Soldering-iron, the, 40. 

Mending leaks in pipes, 40. 

Sore mouth, remedy for, 338. 
Spots and stains on floors, 
cleaning off, 74. 

Squashes, how to plant, 211. 
Spavin, how to treat, 164. 

Spiced cake, how to keep, 129. 
Spices, how to keep, 130. 

Spinach, how to keep, 119. 
Splints in horses, treatment for, 
163. 

Spots in wood and metal, 34- 

36. 

Dents, how to remove, 35. 

How to make swabs for cleaning, 
34 - 

How to polish marble, stone, and 
metal, 35. 

Mahogany films, how to remove, 
3 6 - 

Scratches, removing, 35. 

Spring colic in horses, treatment 
of, 158. 

Spring water, qualities of, 261. 

Springs and wells, 255-258. 
Stable-cleaning, hints on, 156. 


Stable mangers and floors, soft 
soap for cleaning and scouring, 
321. 

Stable stalls and fittings, 146, 
147 - 

Stains for wood, 25, 26. 

Cherry, 25. 

Filler for white wood, 26. 

Mahogany, 25. 

Oak, 26. 

Walnut, 26. 

Stair-carpets, how to darn, 361. 

Starch, how to make, 90. 

Starching prints, 92-94. 

Shirts, collars, and cuffs, 90, 91.. 

Steam carpet cleaning, process 
of, 68. 

Steam-heat for houses, 278. 

Steel, how to clean, 111. 

Steel knives, how to clean, 107. 

Steel-wool, uses of, 64. 

Step-ladders, use of, 22. 

Sterilising milk, method of, 154. 

Stills and strainers for water, 

265. 

Stings, remedies for, 323. 

Stockings, how to darn, 360. 

How to wash, 96, 97. 

Stomach, disordered, remedy for, 
338 , 339 - 

Stone, how to polish, 34. 

Stone-flagged floors harmful, 

2. 

Store-room, construction of, 49. 

Store-rooms, fittings for, 45. 

Storing clothes, furs, blankets, 
etc., 49-51. 

Strawberries, raising, and the 
management of strawberry-beds, 
205. 

String beans, how to keep, 119. 

How to plant, 211. 

Student lamps, care and use of, 
271. 

Sugar, how to keep, 49, 130. 

Barrelled, how to care for, 49. 

Sulphate solutions, how to make, 
313. 

Summer garments, storing of, 
54 -• 





9llpf)abettcai fnbet 


379 


Summer-houses and arbours, 

building and use of, 197. 

Sun-faded spots in stained 
wood, how to restore, 27. 

Swabs for cleaning wood and 
metal, how to make, 34. 

Sweeping carpets and floors, 
66 68 . 

Swinney in horses, how to treat, 
163, 164. 

Syrups, how to keep, 131. 

T 

Table-linen, care and arrangement 
55 - 

Tanks, for use in sewers, 249, 250. 

Tar as a therapeutic, 325. 

Ointments, how to make, 326. 

Tar-pills, how to make, 325. 

Teats, proper size of, in cows, 148. 

Temperature in the sick-room, 

291-293. 

Of horse, how to take, 159. 

Tests for purity of water, 262. 

Texas sage, 332. 

Toilet-ware, washing and clean¬ 
ing, 65. 

Tomatoes, how to keep, 120. 

How to plant, 210. 

Tonic, a good, 330 . 

Tools, household, 19. 

Towel-racks, cost and making of, 
13. 

Transoms objectionable in 
kitchens, 6. 

Transplanting, best time for, 211. 

Traps, plumbing, 236. 

Peppermint test, 238. 

Smoke test, 237. 

Testing traps and plumbing, 237. 

To test for sewer-gas, 239. 

Trap-seals, 237. 

Trays, brass, how to clean, HI. 

Trestles and scaffolding versus 
step ladders, 23. 

Tripoli for scouring brass fau¬ 
cets, 241. 

Trousers, how to patch boys’, 359. 


Trumpet-ventilators, necessary 
in kitchen ranges, 10. 

Trunks, how to arrange for pack¬ 
ing away winter clothing, 53. 
Tubs for the laundry. 81. 

Tucks, pressing and ironing, 94. 
Tufting furniture, 38. 

Turkey carpets, how to repair, 

_ 360. 

Turkeys, how to raise, 188, 189. 
Turkish towels, for window clean¬ 
ing, 70. 

For cleaning floors, 74. 

Turnips, how to keep, 118. 
Turpentine, for removing spots 
from glass, 70. 

u 

Udders, proper size of, in cows, 
148. 

Underwear, how to wash, 97. 

Unpainted wood, use of dyes to 
colour, 27. 

Upholstered furniture, how to 

clean, 75. 

Upholstery repairing, 37, 38. 

Recovering, 37. 

Tufting, 38. 

V 

Vagaries of the sewing-ma¬ 
chine, 357, 358. 

Vegetable waste, treatment of, 
252. 

Vegetables, how to keep, 119, 120. 
How to raise in gardens, 209-212. 

Velvet garments, how to pack 
away, 53. 

Venetian glass, how to wash, 104. 
Ventilating bedrooms after 
cleaning, 67. 

Ventilator for windows, how to 

make, 294. 

Vermifuges, 337, 338. 

Vermin in animals, 172, 173. 
Vermin-harbours in kitchen, 3. 
Vinegar, hints on preserving, 48, 
Vitriol, blue and white, 313. 



380 


Household Economy 


w 


Walking-skirt, how to make, 355. 
Wall-closet, how to fit up one, 
12. 


Wall-paper, how to clean, 34. 
Matching, 31. 

Trimming, 30. 

Wall-screens for the sick-room, 
295- 

Walls, 23-25. 

Preparing for painting, 23. 

How to prepare for papering, 

3°\ 

Priming, or first coat, 24. 
Repainting, directions for, 24. 
Surface of, how to prepare, 24. 

Walls and ceilings, 5. 

High ceilings good for ventilation, 

6 . 


Should be painted, 5. 

Wooden, objectionable, 5. 
Walnut stain for wood, 26. 
Walnuts, how to keep, 126. 
Waring, G. E., his bacterial sys¬ 
tem of country-house drainage, 
248, 249. 

Wash-boards, glass, 82. 
Wash-days, 87-89. 

Articles washed in order, 87. 
Borax soaps best for laundry work, 
88 . 


How to wash clothes, 87-89. 
Kerosene for whitening clothes, 
89. 

Sorting clothes, 87. 

Washing, china, 104. 

Curtains, 95. 

Glass, 99. 

Knives and forks, 106, 107. 
Mattresses, 39. 

Paint, 71. 

Plain and decorated glass, 103. 
Prints, 92. 

Stockings and underwear, 96, 97. 
The sick, 296, 297. 

Walls and ceilings, 5. 

Windows, 69. 

Waste-pipes, location of, 244. 


Water, distilled, how to make pala¬ 
table, 266. 

Purification of, 263, 264. 

Water, hard and soft, 254-256. 

Composition of, 254. 

Drinking and cooking water, 255, 
256. 

Freestone water, 255. 

Limestone water, 255. 

Solvent powers of, 255. 
Water-bugs, how to kill, 316. 
Water-gas, the making of, 275. 
Water-pipes, as to, 266-268. 

Hot water injures, 266. 

How to save from freezing and 
bursting, 267. 

How to thaw out pipes, 267. 
Outdoor water-pipes, how to pro¬ 
tect, 268. 

Water-stills, how to use, 265. 

Water-strainer, how to make, 

266. 

Water-supply, the, 254-268. 
Spring water, 261, 262. 

Springs, wells, and cisterns, 256- 

260. 

Stills and strainers, 265, 266. 
Water, hard and soft, 254, 255. 
Water-pipes, as to, 266-268. 
Water, purifying, 263-265. 

Water tests, some, 262, 263. 
Wind-mills and force-pumps, 260, 

261. 

Water-supply of towns and cities, 
256. 

Water-tests, a few simple, 262. 

Watering-pot for dampening 
clothes, 85. 

Waxing floors, 74. 

Wells and well-water, use of, 

256-258. 

Wheat-bran for washing 
prints, 93. 

Wheels, method of applying axle- 
grease to, 139. 

White-walnut tea, 327. 
Whitewash : 

Cellar, 20. 

For closets, 43. 

Greenhouses, 218. 





381 


Whitewash. — Continued. 

How to make, 20, 21. 

Milk, 22. 

Out-door, 21. 

Quick-lime, 22. 

Wicker furniture, how to clean, 
75 - 

Dyeing, 27. 

Restoring, 26. 

Wicks, lamp, how to select, 273. 
Wild cherry, bark and fruit, 330- 
332 . 

For coughs, 331. 

For insomnia, 331. 

For loss of appetite, 331. 

Willow furniture, how to clean, 
. 75 - 

Willow-tea, a remedy in treatment 
of green wounds, 336. 

Wind-galls in horses, treatment 
for, 163. 

Wind-mills and force-pumps, 

260. 

Window-boxes, 230. 

Window gardens, 227-232. 
Dusting and watering plants, 232. 
Geraniums, 229. 

Japanese morning-glories for north 
windows, 229. 

Nasturtiums, 228, 229. 

Raising plants, 227. 

When to sow seed, 228. 
Window-boxes, 230. 

Woody plants out of place, 230. 
Window-glass, how to put in, 
29. 

Window-sills should be high, 

6 . 

Window-washing, 69-70. 

How to proceed, 70. 

Turkish towel, use of, 70. 
Turpentine, use of, 70. 

Windows and doors, 6 - 8 . 

Crown glass best for windows, 6. 
Door cracks, 7. 

Painting sash and screen frames, 

7 - 

Sills should be high, 6. 

Sliding doors, 7 . 


Windows and door S.—Continued. 
Transoms objectionable in kitch¬ 
ens, 6. 

Windows in the sick-room, 

# 294, 295. 

Wines, hints on bottling and pre¬ 
serving, 48. 

Winter clothing, how to pack 
. away, 53. 

Wire gauze best for screens, 6 . 
Wire-gauze dish-covers, a sub¬ 
stitute for, 46. 

Women’s clothing, disposal of, 
in clothes closets, 58, 59. 

Wood : 

For fuel, 279. 

Mending, 41. 

Reliable stains for, 25. 

Restoring, 26. 

Spots in, 34. 

Wood and wicker furniture, re¬ 
storing, 26. 

Dyeing, 27. 

Wooden sinks objectionable, 

11. 

Wounds, for green, 335-337 
Balsam cucumber, 336. 

Elder bark, 337. 

Willow tea, 336. 

Yarrow, 336. 

Yellow marigold, 335. 

Wounds, bleeding, how to treat, 
307 - 

Wringers, how to select, 82. 

Wrought iron or steel, how to 

clean, ill. 

Y . 

Yarrow, a remedy in the treatment 
for green wounds, 336. 

Yellow marigold, a remedy for 
green wounds, 335. 

z 

Zinc-lined sinks objectionable, 11. 

















Treatment Date: June 2012 

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